Eight Tips To Make Your Video Conferencing Event Go Perfectly
Summary: The best video conferencing equipment in the world can not make you and your business look fantastic if your people do not use the set up to their advantage. These 8 video conferencing tips can help you look good.
Even the best video conferencing equipment on the market does not answer all your communication challenges. Some issues spring from the actions of the participants and have more to do with inexperience, bad manners and lack of consideration than with the quality of the mics, monitors and connections.
To make your long distance video communication events go smoothly, keep the following 8 things in mind:
1. Set up rules for participation before the event. Will everyone talk freely or will only one or two folk do the bulk of the talking? While you cannot be sure the people on the other end will speak in an organized and orderly fashion, you must do whatever is necessary to be certain you maintain a controlled approach on your end.
2. Do an experimental run to be certain everyone understands how things work. While modern video conferencing equipment is intuitive and easy to use, letting people who are unacquainted with its operation, practice a bit, is a good idea. Set up a chat with another regional office or a trusted peer who will tell you the truth about if you and you staff are coming across well.
3. Be conscious of the cameras but not preoccupied by them. Think of how experienced news reporters have interaction with the camera. They talk to the individual watching the broadcast, not to the camera. They don't compulsively think about being a centimeter or 2 off their marks, but they don't purposely step outside of the frame either. They appear at ease at all times.
4. Eliminate outside diversions from the meeting room. Modern mikes are much more sensitive than ever before so close the door to the room where the conference is being held, silence pagers, watches and cell-phones and keep paper rustling to a minimum. Always presume that extraneous sounds are being picked up although they won't be.
5. Avoid wearing distracting or heavily decorated clothing. Cross-hatch patterns may react with a camera in unusual and distraction ways, and small decorations might not be visible. Stick to decorated clothing to avoid making distractions that can take attention away from your carefully planned words during your virtual meeting.
6. Have a clear goal. Exactly like in a face to face meeting, be clear about what's to be discussed. Otherwise, you'll never know when your discussion is complete. For video conference meetings, this means establishing a clear agenda and sharing it with all locations.
7. Be certain an appointed person is in charge at every location and over the whole meeting. Someone should be able to call time when the meeting runs longs, and somebody at every location should be in charge of informing other locations when there's a communication problem. If no-one is appointed to be in charge of a location, it's possible that nobody will speak out if something goes wrong, and time could be wasted.
8. Provide digital presentations and handouts before the event. People regularly choose to view handouts and presentations in their own time so that they can prepare before a meeting, so provide digital presentations and e-mail copies of handouts ahead of time , allowing those who need to study the chance to do that. That can also save a meeting if a presentation don't want to transmit at the proper time.
When you keep these 8 common sense tips under consideration during your live video conferencing events, you can be sure that your words amount to true communication and do not fall on deaf ears. Making the most sensible use of your video conferencing equipment means guaranteeing people know how to work with it instead of against it.
Even the best video conferencing equipment on the market does not answer all your communication challenges. Some issues spring from the actions of the participants and have more to do with inexperience, bad manners and lack of consideration than with the quality of the mics, monitors and connections.
To make your long distance video communication events go smoothly, keep the following 8 things in mind:
1. Set up rules for participation before the event. Will everyone talk freely or will only one or two folk do the bulk of the talking? While you cannot be sure the people on the other end will speak in an organized and orderly fashion, you must do whatever is necessary to be certain you maintain a controlled approach on your end.
2. Do an experimental run to be certain everyone understands how things work. While modern video conferencing equipment is intuitive and easy to use, letting people who are unacquainted with its operation, practice a bit, is a good idea. Set up a chat with another regional office or a trusted peer who will tell you the truth about if you and you staff are coming across well.
3. Be conscious of the cameras but not preoccupied by them. Think of how experienced news reporters have interaction with the camera. They talk to the individual watching the broadcast, not to the camera. They don't compulsively think about being a centimeter or 2 off their marks, but they don't purposely step outside of the frame either. They appear at ease at all times.
4. Eliminate outside diversions from the meeting room. Modern mikes are much more sensitive than ever before so close the door to the room where the conference is being held, silence pagers, watches and cell-phones and keep paper rustling to a minimum. Always presume that extraneous sounds are being picked up although they won't be.
5. Avoid wearing distracting or heavily decorated clothing. Cross-hatch patterns may react with a camera in unusual and distraction ways, and small decorations might not be visible. Stick to decorated clothing to avoid making distractions that can take attention away from your carefully planned words during your virtual meeting.
6. Have a clear goal. Exactly like in a face to face meeting, be clear about what's to be discussed. Otherwise, you'll never know when your discussion is complete. For video conference meetings, this means establishing a clear agenda and sharing it with all locations.
7. Be certain an appointed person is in charge at every location and over the whole meeting. Someone should be able to call time when the meeting runs longs, and somebody at every location should be in charge of informing other locations when there's a communication problem. If no-one is appointed to be in charge of a location, it's possible that nobody will speak out if something goes wrong, and time could be wasted.
8. Provide digital presentations and handouts before the event. People regularly choose to view handouts and presentations in their own time so that they can prepare before a meeting, so provide digital presentations and e-mail copies of handouts ahead of time , allowing those who need to study the chance to do that. That can also save a meeting if a presentation don't want to transmit at the proper time.
When you keep these 8 common sense tips under consideration during your live video conferencing events, you can be sure that your words amount to true communication and do not fall on deaf ears. Making the most sensible use of your video conferencing equipment means guaranteeing people know how to work with it instead of against it.
About the Author:
Paul Fraser is owner at AVT Solutions and writes about video conferencing and others issues relating to distance communication. He knows that good skills combined with great equipment can lead to successful video conferencing events.