Six Tips for Video Conferencing

I'm grateful for an increased openness for individuals and organisations to communicate more via video conferencing technology since the COVID-19 pandemic.

For me, it opened up opportunities to work with organisations globally, from the comfort of my home and without leaving a carbon footprint from travel—both of which are important to me. For others, it opened opportunities to relocate and work from home or abroad, meet family and friends from a distance, use healthcare and coaching services from around the globe, and interview from a distance. Brilliant! On the downside, it can be incredibly draining.

Meeting one-to-one isn't too bad, but something more complicated, such as delivering a presentation or interviewing online, requires much cognitive energy—if you want to do it well. During in-person presentations and training, you need to present well verbally and nonverbally and interpret your audience and adapt accordingly—easy (with practise😉)! With online training, you do all that, switching between learning resources like slides and videos, navigating questions in chat and ensuring videos are visible, audible, and not pixelated.

Moreover, scanning your audience is only an option sometimes, depending on your platform and setup. It's also difficult to make eye contact due to the camera location. Team that with Australia's poor internet capability, and voila, you might have a recipe for disaster. This is multitasking on many levels, and research has found we can't multitask. You can't be present in all of these areas at once–moving your attention around to navigate online conferencing demands more cognitive effort. It can be difficult and exhausting, but awareness and preparedness are essential.

Here, I'll share some video conferencing tips and more general behaviour-related tips that should help you navigate your call and deliver your message more effectively.

Video Conferencing Tips

Making a Good Impression

How you show up is essential in creating a good impression, so be prepared and take some time to compose yourself. Pay attention to your appearance too–are you sufficiently groomed and appropriately dressed? Take a few minutes of slow breathing beforehand to feel calm, collected, and prepared to be present. Check in advance how you’ll appear on camera and position it appropriately. Ensure your mic and headphones are working, and turn your camera on. Be present during the meeting, actively listening and responding. Most of these rules apply to in-person meetings too.

Framing the Camera

The camera should be head height, facing forward. Status perceptions can change if your camera looks down on you or up at you because that’s how clients and colleagues view you. Tilting your screen and raising or lowering your device to find the right view can make an incredible difference to how you appear and instantly create a better impression. Allow your clients/colleagues to see enough of you to elicit trust and connection. That means being close enough to be a significant part of the view, yet not so close that you’re a floating face, and not too far in the distance that the room becomes the focus. Ideally, your head should be at camera height, with your torso and arms visible. 

Avoid Distractions

Turn off distractions (including incoming emails and reminders) to be present and respectful. Phone and computer notifications can distract others too, interrupting their thought and speech. If you’re expecting an important call, consider its importance within context. If it can wait, silence your phone. If it can’t wait, explain in advance. 

Avoid Negative Behaviours

Stress and blocking behaviours are common behaviours that can create negative perceptions. The most common blocking behaviour is arm crossing which occurs as we experience slight discomfort. It feels comfortable for the user; however, it’s perceived as less open and welcoming. Because how we use body language influences our feelings, the user may feel less open to ideas. All of this occurs below the surface of consciousness. 

Common stress behaviours such as face and neck touching, fidgeting and repetitive movements like swinging in a chair or swaying on your feet show nervousness or irritability and are associated with low credibility. Due to contagious emotions, they can affect the feelings of others, leaving them with a less positive experience as they interact with you. 

Subconsciously, these behaviours bring comfort, helping to pacify uncomfortable feelings. While there’s nothing wrong with them per se, they can be distracting for others and create negative perceptions. With awareness—most people don’t realise they indulge in them—these behaviours can be managed over time to the point where they disappear. They can be managed within the moment too. In most professional situations, it’s essential to conceal stress and nervousness because it affects perceptions of credibility. If you don’t appear confident in what you’re saying, why should anyone buy into you? 

Avoid Slides

Many people presenting online put up their slides and disappear, or float in a smaller window, leaving their slides to present for them as they lose their audience in an accentuated case of death by PowerPoint. The presenter is the presenter, and slides are a tool, so be front and centre. It can be a similar scenario during an in-person presentation where slides are overused; however, the presenter has more of a presence in person.

Slides should always be kept to a minimum and virtually wordless, more so online. Their purpose is to support the presenter's words to aid understanding of concepts, just like an 'illustrator', for example, a hand gesture which describes a concept alongside words. The presenter is critical for engagement and understanding, so they should be the session's focus.

My solution is to only show a handful of slides throughout the presentation, dipping in and out when needed so that you remain the presenter and maintain engagement. Keeping a full deck of slides open on your screen (for only you to see) can be beneficial for keeping you on track. This all adds to cognitive demand; however, it makes your presentation more effective and engaging.

Display Positive Behaviours

Smile

Smiling is a friend signal. It puts people at ease via a physiological response, facilitating harmony and connection. It’s polite and always important as a greeting, helping create a good impression and positive emotion (for the user and audience). Once greetings are complete, let your facial expression do its own thing—if you’re being honest, your expression will follow your emotions, responding to what you hear and say with authenticity. Depending on the context, smiling when it’s your turn to speak might be appropriate. Learn more about the smile here.

Vocal Power

Speak clearly and loud enough to be heard easily, without shouting. Avoid problematic speech, such as mumbling, having a monotone voice, or speaking too fast or quietly. Learn more about vocal power here.

Good Posture

Maintain an open and upright posture to display warmth, openness and approachability and to elicit feelings of trust from your audience. If you’re presenting, I recommend standing. This should keep you more alert and will help you to avoid slouching.

Eye Contact

Eye contact is problematic during online conferencing due to camera location; however, speaking to the camera instead of the screen at strategic points will help maintain the perception of eye contact, for example, at the start of the conference call/presentation.

Hand Gestures

Use hand gestures to increase engagement and understanding. Hand gestures add meaning to speech, visually describing specific words or following the flow, helping people understand where you’re up to during communication. For example, hand gestures typically stop as a sentence ends. Learn more about hand gestures here.

Make sure you schedule some downtime after the conference call. Slow breathe before and after the meeting to ensure you’re calm enough to handle the pressure and can restore emotion and cognition afterwards. Good luck.