ExecutiveChronicles.com | Perfect Presentation – 5 Tips For Conducting Video Conference Calls When Working From Home | With the rise of remote working, conference room meetings have largely been replaced by group video calls. If you’re not used to this technology, there are many ways to mess it up. Follow the five tips below, however, and you’ll leave a lasting positive impression:
1. The little things count
The first thing to understand about conference calls is that all the distractions that are normally there when you’re in a room with people are cut out, meaning that all eyes are squarely on you at all times. For this reason, the details of your appearance become far more noticeable. Instead of freaking out about this magnified scrutiny, use it as an opportunity to shine.
If you’ve got some classy cufflinks, brooch or other fancy bling, now’s the time to whip them out! Dress your best, be careful with your background setting, choose a flattering angle for your webcam (eye level is best), and ensure kids and pets are out of the room. In short, you want to make sure your clients or colleagues are talking about you for all the right reasons after you finish the call!
2. Ensure your internet connection is strong
Your next step is to use a speed test tool to safeguard you against call dropouts and poor call quality. Fast.com or Speedtest.net are excellent tools for this. To give you a gauge – 2 Mbps should be sufficient for HD quality with a one-on-one call. Add another 1 Mbps for every additional person who’ll be joining the meeting. Keep in mind, other programs and other users in the house may lower the available bandwidth for your voice call. If you’re not getting the speed you need, try moving closer to your Wi-Fi router, or seeing if others in the home can work offline for a little while.
3. Do a test run
Next, you’ll want to make sure your audio and video devices are functioning properly. Most video conferencing programs have a test call option. Otherwise, you may want to call a friend or family member. In addition to testing the hardware, this will allow you to familiarise yourself with the program you’re using, meaning you’re less likely to have embarrassing mid-meeting issues.
4. Close all unnecessary programs
About ten minutes before your video conference is due to start, start saving your work and closing any programs you won’t need during the call. The more applications you have running, and the more tabs you have open in your web browser, the more CPU power and bandwidth you’ll be drawing away from the video call. As a bonus, this tactic will also ensure you don’t inadvertently reveal anything you don’t want to if you need to share your screen during the conference.
5. Be present
Once the call has started, resist the temptation to multi-task. Pay attention to the person speaking and keep your eyes on or around the camera. Don’t think that just because there are several faces on the screen people won’t notice if you do a bit of sneaky scrolling or email checking. Remember point one? People notice the tiniest details on conference calls. So, if you’re typing a message or looking at memes, your lack of attention will scream out to your clients or colleagues.
A good rule to operate by is this – if you wouldn’t do it in a real-life meeting room, don’t do it on a conference call.
Video conference calls can be daunting. However, if you follow these steps, you’ll be calm, confident, and as prepared as possible to make a good impression.
