Quarantines, cancellations, and work-from-home policies have meant a dramatic shift to video and chat apps to help maintain business as usual. Whether you’re on Zoom, Skype, Slack, or Google Hangouts, there’s no better time to re-think how to optimize the remote interactive experience with these seven strategies:
1. Prevent silence through engagement. Awkward quiet moments can be pronounced with big groups, which makes it especially important to help people engage. Because it’s hard to gauge interest or get a sense of who’s about to speak, virtual meetings need you to call on people whenever it makes sense to. And don’t forget that meetings are most productive when people feel safe to speak up, where spontaneity or candor are welcome. Take note: Workers who shared a funny or embarrassing story about themselves produced 26% more ideas in brainstorming sessions than workers who didn’t.
2. Ask questions to keep the dialogue moving. Never go longer than five minutes without asking a question, giving the group a problem to solve, or scenario to discuss. With everyone scattered in rooms hither and yon, you’re going to lose them. When it comes to distractions, our homes are Ground Zero.
3. Set your camera lens at eye level or higher. A laptop on a desk naturally creates an upward view of you. The taller you are, and the shorter your desk, the more pronounced the angle. Consider raising your laptop or monitor so the camera is at about eye level, or even slightly higher. Even with a great webcam, there’s a good chance your lighting, your backdrop, and your connection are making your web meetings less polished than they could be.
4. Make the camera your friend. According to motivational expert Jeff Haden, eye contact matters even in the virtual realm. When you’re the person talking, look into the camera lens. Your focus makes it clear: you’re talking directly to them. Do your best to move close enough to fill the screen with your head and shoulders. The farther away you appear, the less engaging and involved you’ll seem, and the less impact your facial expressions will have. Whatever’s behind you, keep it simple. And don’t forget the rule about lighting: The main light source should come from behind your monitor (or camera), rather than behind the subject (you).
5. Speak a little louder than you think you should. A strong voice imparts confidence, credibility, and authority. Pretend you’re in a large room, and your voice needs to carry. To make it easier, turn your speaker volume down a hair; that will make you instinctively speak a little louder.
6. Be smart about the chat window. It’s tempting to use chat functions to keep a side conversation alive or crack a joke. Don’t. Use the text tool to benefit everyone: to supply a link, share a document, or add broader context to a point. When in doubt, just practice common courtesy. People want to be heard, seen, and respected during an online meeting—just like we do everywhere else.
7. Close other apps for optimal performance. These virtual meeting apps use your processor to transmit data—a process that takes up computer power. For the smoothest possible meetings, close any applications you don’t need to use for the meeting itself.
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