The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally affected all the spheres of human life, including education. Universities worldwide have established distance learning, which demanded combining and improving both traditional and innovative education forms. The article offers a comprehensive analysis of pre-recorded mini-lectures in the educational space of distance learningfor different scientific-educational Internet projects (Coursera, PostNauka, Udacity, edX, LinguaLeo, EdEra, etc.). Mini-lectures are complete pieces of speech limited in time and accessible to multiple reproductions; that is why they are quite a representative material for the research of the generation of cognitive processes and perception of a verbal educational message in asynchronous online learning. The significant results of the study include: the definition of invariable characteristics of virtual mini-lectures (distance, virtuality, mediation, situational incorrigibility, multimodality), defining cognitive strategies of the speaker and the listener in an asynchronous lecture interaction, finding the points of contact (motivation and interest in transferring and receiving information) between them. The article also describes the linguistic features of virtual mini-lecture. These conclusions can find practical application in the development of methodology for the distance teaching of linguistic disciplines.