5 Tips for Conducting a Virtual Meeting: Stay Focused
Rick Maurer, author of Beyond the Wall of Resistance and Why Don't You Want What I Want? advises users to remove distractions. The advantage of virtual meetings is the ability to hold them almost anywhere— the disadvantage of virtual meetings is also the ability to hold them almost anywhere. Online meeting attendees can call or log in from the local coffeehouse, airport lounges, home offices, etc. To minimize background or "road noise" (you don't want your child, pet, or ringing phones to become the focus) you can opt to "mute all attendees and only take questions via the chat box," says Stack.
Maurer also advises against trying to squeeze multiple things into a single meeting. "Keep the focus on one or two topics. If you must cover more items, then give people time to stretch, take a bathroom break, or replenish their coffee. Keep each segment of the meeting short - no longer than 30 minutes."
Note: Striped shirts do not transmit well on camera nor does large, shiny jewelry. Both can be visually distracting. Try to keep your body movements to a minimum as excessive movement can actually degrade video quality.
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5 Tips for Conducting a Virtual Meeting: Etiquette
"The key to a successful video conference or phone conference meeting is to remember that you are in a meeting," stresses Colaric. "Give your full attention to the participants as you would if you were in the same room. Don't be distracted by e-mail, Web surfing, or texting. Try not to eat or drink so that you can be prepared if questions are directed to you."
A good rule of thumb? Colaric says, "Always assume when you walk into the room that the microphones are already live to other locations! This helps prevent any extraneous pre-meeting conversation from being broadcast when you might not intend it to."
She also points out that video-conference meetings should actually move at a slightly slower pace than a typical meeting due to a two to three second delay for most systems to communicate. If you're leading the meeting, make sure there are sufficient pauses after asking a question. If you are a participant, bring attention to yourself before addressing the group by signaling with your hand or saying "question" or "comment" and then waiting a couple seconds before continuing."
Participants should also make eye contact by looking into the camera. It will make conversation among the participants more natural. The following is a quick cheat sheet on etiquette:
The 8 Do's of Video Conferencing Etiquette
Do be courteous to other participants
Do speak clearly
Do keep body movements minimal
Do move and gesture slowly and naturally
Do maintain eye contact by looking into the camera
Do dress appropriately
Do make the session animated
Do be yourself and have fun!
The 7 Don'ts of Video Conferencing Etiquette
Don't make distracting sounds
Don't shout
Don't make distracting movements
Don't interrupt other speakers
Don't carry on side conversations
Don't wear "noisy" jewelry
Don't cover the microphone
Source: St. Leo University Office of Information Technology
Note: If your dong business globally, check out sites such as executiveplanet.com and kissbowshakehands.com for resources on international business etiquette.
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5 Tips for Conducting a Virtual Meeting: Engaging Participants
Dennis says there's a tendency in virtual meetings to launch right into the task, which can negatively affect relationship building. She recommends breaking the ice by going around the "virtual" room and asking everyone to introduce themselves and share something about their weekend, or talk about something they're looking forward to, to add a social element to the proceedings. "Everything you can simulate from face to face encounters is good."
Stack says to encourage participants to submit their questions on the topic before the program begins. She also recommends other methods for keeping the audience engaged during the webinar, such as taking a poll or asking a question and asking for answers via chat.
Colaric suggests asking questions frequently both to engage remote participants and to keep a personal connection going. But, she stresses, be explicit in your questions. "Ask a specific person a specific question. Asking open-ended questions to a large remote audience will often result in "dead air" and then multiple people talking at once."
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