Working remotely may entail having some important conversations and meetings virtually. It’s important that you take a few steps to prepare in order to ensure that your call goes well.
Check Your Internet Connection
Perhaps one of the most important video call tips to keep in mind is that you need to check your internet connection in advance of an important call. Perform a speed test so that you can work on addressing any potential issues well before your call starts. At the time of your call, make sure that you don’t have downloads or uploads slowing down your connection speed, and give anyone else who is using your connection a head’s up.
Mind Your Manners
You need to exhibit the exact same etiquette that you would if you were having the conversation or meeting in person. This means that you need to maintain eye contact, you shouldn’t be multitasking, and you need to give whoever you’re speaking with your full attention. You should be sitting upright and not appear to be reclining. Ensure that notifications on both your phone and your computer are silenced.
Choose Your Background Wisely
During video calls, people are naturally curious to see what’s happening in the background of the person that they’re speaking with. They’ll be evaluating your home and drawing inferences about your style and cleanliness. You should choose a background that underscores the qualities about yourself that you’d like for your audience to see; it should be well-organized and appear highly professional.
Don’t hold a call in an area that shows an entire room that appears messy or full of clutter. Choose a plain background with a limited view of your home. It doesn’t have to be totally devoid of any personal items or expressive style, but it does need to be appropriate to share with colleagues or clients.
Keep Your Camera Still
If you’ll be doing a call on your phone rather than your computer, it’s best not to hold it in your hand. Holding your phone throughout your call may make the frame that you’re in appear shaky or distorted, and it can be very distracting for whoever you’re speaking with.
Leave your phone standing against something, but make sure it’s well-balanced. If it tips over mid-call, the perfect frame that you’ve gone to so much trouble creating will be ruined, and you may give your audience a view of the background that you didn’t mean to. You might consider using a stand that’s custom fit for your phone that you can attach to a flat surface.
Don’t Be Afraid To Say What You Need To
Even though you’re doing a call from the comfort of your home, you may feel a little more nervous than you would ordinarily simply because you’re communicating in a format that you’re not used to. Also, when you’re separated by distance, it can be a little harder to read a room and pick up on little nuances that make you aware of a good time to chime in or when you can interject a question.
Moreover, not being able to say what you need to in person may make you a little more reticent about giving people news that they might not want to hear because you can’t modify or soften your statements with body language very easily.
However, you shouldn’t let the fact that you’re speaking on a video call deter you from saying exactly what you need to or asking hard questions. Make sure that you achieve your objectives so you can end the call with clarity and a strong sense of what your next steps should be in managing your work.