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Zoom starter-pack: How to crush your virtual meetings

1 Feb 2021

While we try cope with the enforced remote working environment, virtual meeting apps such as Zoom, Skype, Hangouts and others have helped teams and customers maintain some of the personal interactions crucial to a business via face-to-face video conferencing. Adjusting to this new way of attending meetings comes with its own set of challenges, however. Even for those of us who've become quite the pro in using virtual meetings since the pandemic began, there are always some useful things to guide us to maximise the experience.

Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels

Here are a few tips to help navigate this relatively new business space. You might be surprised by the number of things you can do to make it look as if you’ve been hosting meetings like this for years.

Look the part

Yes, you’re working from home but when people are going to see you, it’s a good idea to look professional— even if only from the waist up! So, in other words, it is completely fine to iron your favourite shirt, while wearing your sweat pants or a skimpy pair of shorts underneath. And, be mindful of your facial expressions - the last thing you want to do is give off the impression that you are not interested in what’s being said.

Make sure the light is right

Here’s where most people fail in virtual meetings. The lighting. Most people don’t have enough light in their room when hosting meetings and it may result in making your face seem shady. A quick way to fix this would be to add a steady lamp directly near your face - this way your face will appear clearly. Another mistake people make is being exposed to too much light. Avoid sitting with your back towards the window, as the camera will take in all the light from the window and create a silhouette effect.

Keep your background in check

You want people focusing on your face, not on what's behind you. Make sure you don’t have too many distractions going on behind you. Keep it plain and simple with nothing but a wall in the background. This might seem boring but, at the same time, it’s non-distracting. And, for those with children, be mindful of their whereabouts while you’re in the meeting: they might just pop up behind you to add their very important input in your meeting, and the same goes for your dogs!

Put everything in perspective

When attending a virtual meeting, try to sit back and relax. Too many people sit way too close to the camera - and it isn’t a pretty sight. The cameras on your webcams are wide-angle. So if you get too close to it, you will look distorted. In other words, step back from the camera. The closer you are to a wide-angle, the more distorted you are.

Be yourself

Keep in mind that this is a strange time for everyone, and your co-workers and clients are going through it right along with you. Allow for humour when the occasion presents itself — we could all use a little bit of levity right now.