Summary: The best video conferencing equipment in the world cannot make you and your business look fantastic if your people do not use the setup to their advantage. These 8 video conferencing tips will definitely help you look good.
Even the best video conferencing equipment on the market does not answer all your communication challenges. Some issues are caused by 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 in advance. Will everyone talk freely or will only one or two people do the bulk of the speaking? While you cannot be sure the people on the other end will speak in a logic and orderly fashion, you must do whatever is necessary to make sure you maintain a disciplined approach on your end.
2. Do an experimental run to make certain everybody understands how things work. While modern video conferencing equipment is intuitive and easy to use, letting individuals that are unacquainted with its operation, practice a bit, is a good idea. Set up a talk 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 distracted by them. Think about how experienced news reporters have interaction with the camera. They communicate to the individual watching the broadcast, not to the camera. They don't compulsively think about being a centimeter or two off their marks, but they don't purposely step outside of the frame either. They appear at ease at all times.
4. Eliminate outside disrutbances from the meeting room. Modern mikes are much more sensitive than ever, so close the door to the room where the conference is being held, silence pagers, watches and cell telephones and keep paper rustling to a minimum. Always presume that extraneous sounds are being picked up although they would possibly not be.
5. Avoid wearing distracting or heavily decorated clothing. Cross-hatch patterns may react with a camera in unusual and distraction ways and very small decorations might not be visible. Stick to decorated clothing to avoid creating distractions that will take attention away from your carefully planned words during your virtual meeting.
6. Have a clear goal. As you would 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 creating a clear agenda and sharing it with all locations.
7. Be sure someone is in control at every location and over the entire meeting. Someone must 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 is a communication problem. If nobody is appointed to be in charge of a location, it's possible that no-one will speak out if something goes badly wrong, and time could be wasted.
8. Provide digital presentations and handouts in advance. Folk frequently prefer to view handouts and presentations in their own time so they can prepare prior to a meeting, so provide digital presentations and email copies of handouts ahead of time , allowing those who need to study the chance to do it. That will also save a meeting if a presentation won't transmit at the proper time.
When you keep these eight common sense tips under consideration during your live video conferencing events, you can be absolutely sure that your words amount to true communication and don't fall on deaf ears. Making the most sensible use of your video conferencing equipment means making sure 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 are caused by 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 in advance. Will everyone talk freely or will only one or two people do the bulk of the speaking? While you cannot be sure the people on the other end will speak in a logic and orderly fashion, you must do whatever is necessary to make sure you maintain a disciplined approach on your end.
2. Do an experimental run to make certain everybody understands how things work. While modern video conferencing equipment is intuitive and easy to use, letting individuals that are unacquainted with its operation, practice a bit, is a good idea. Set up a talk 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 distracted by them. Think about how experienced news reporters have interaction with the camera. They communicate to the individual watching the broadcast, not to the camera. They don't compulsively think about being a centimeter or two off their marks, but they don't purposely step outside of the frame either. They appear at ease at all times.
4. Eliminate outside disrutbances from the meeting room. Modern mikes are much more sensitive than ever, so close the door to the room where the conference is being held, silence pagers, watches and cell telephones and keep paper rustling to a minimum. Always presume that extraneous sounds are being picked up although they would possibly not be.
5. Avoid wearing distracting or heavily decorated clothing. Cross-hatch patterns may react with a camera in unusual and distraction ways and very small decorations might not be visible. Stick to decorated clothing to avoid creating distractions that will take attention away from your carefully planned words during your virtual meeting.
6. Have a clear goal. As you would 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 creating a clear agenda and sharing it with all locations.
7. Be sure someone is in control at every location and over the entire meeting. Someone must 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 is a communication problem. If nobody is appointed to be in charge of a location, it's possible that no-one will speak out if something goes badly wrong, and time could be wasted.
8. Provide digital presentations and handouts in advance. Folk frequently prefer to view handouts and presentations in their own time so they can prepare prior to a meeting, so provide digital presentations and email copies of handouts ahead of time , allowing those who need to study the chance to do it. That will also save a meeting if a presentation won't transmit at the proper time.
When you keep these eight common sense tips under consideration during your live video conferencing events, you can be absolutely sure that your words amount to true communication and don't fall on deaf ears. Making the most sensible use of your video conferencing equipment means making sure 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.