With new technology comes unchartered territory – nobody really knows the rules, and you hope you know them a little more than the other party does, to save face.
Video calling has gone from fad to mainstream, so it’s past time to polish up your etiquette if you want to gain the respect of suppliers, clients, or other business correspondents.
Check out our video, then read on to make a complete checklist of things you haven’t been doing that you should add.
It is still a meeting, so act like it: they can see you yawning and looking out the window, nodding to the person that came in and asked you something that you muted your microphone for. Give them your full attention, or you won’t have their respect.
For the same reason, turn your video camera on so they don’t have to stare at an initial of your name or the frozen company image of you in a suit. If you are sick in bed that might be different, or if you are listening to others discuss and have mobilised your device to go get a glass of water (ideally, sort that beforehand) ok… otherwise, be a team player. Have the courtesy to be present, it also adds a feeling of trust. You wouldn’t sit with your back to the team in a real meeting, would you?
Speaking of muting your mic: when you are having a video call with multiple attendees, put yourself on mute if you aren’t talking. Any tiny shuffle, breath, voice clear adds extra noise and distraction, because everything is being amplified. In fact, even if it is just a 2-person meeting, this can be helpful in situations where the conversation isn’t bouncing back and forward so fast, especially if the person currently listening has a lot of background noise, such as an open office space. This helps the speaker stay on track as they are not competing with the noise. Remember, if you have headphones in, you are essentially wearing earmuffs to block you from surrounding noise… whereas for the person on the other end, the noise from your background is twice as loud because it is amplified!
Bad internet connection wastes a lot of time, as you end up having to clarify things that were said when it cut out or log back into meetings. Make sure you are set up in a part of the office that has a steady flow of wifi, or if you are at home, turn dormant devices onto flight mode for the duration of the call so you don’t have to spread the wifi too thin. Do your best not to be in a busy public space, or café because not only is the racket of your background worse for the other person than it is for you, the wifi will tease you so much it will sound like you are talking in a bath full of water. If you keep finding yourself using public wifi, invest in a mobile hotspot gadget, to up your odds.
Add to things to invest in: headphones with an inbuilt mic. This really helps cut out echoes and background noise. Try not to choose the cheapest on the shelf or the mic might let you down – some mics are designed to pick up sound from a distance while some only pick up sound from close by, which makes a huge difference with background noise and concise speaking; and better quality mics are designed to filter out white noise. Headphones are a must for any video call except if you are in a boardroom full of other people also on the call.
Check your appearance, lighting and angles a few minutes before the meeting time. You can do this by opening the program and going to the camera/settings, or if you are joining from your phone, opening the camera. It won’t always matter, but if you are making first impressions or meeting for the first time, aim for natural light to hit the side or front of your face rather than downlights, which will leave a lot of your face in shadow. Having light behind you rather than in front of you will leave you looking like a black hole, which is really not that welcoming. Sometimes, good lighting is just a matter of adjusting the angle of your desk or sitting the other side of it for the call.
Keep your pores out of it! You don’t need to be so close that it is just a close up of your nose, or so far away that we are double checking the name of who just joined. Position yourself on the camera so that your shoulders fit in the camera frame, and make sure your device is secured in one spot on your desk (for example) that will make this easy to maintain during the call. “Secure” is key, we don’t want a person wobbling around on the screen or constantly losing track fixing their device.
If you can achieve most of those, the cherry on top is to aim for a clear and professional background, or at least one that is acceptable and appropriate to the other party. Try to keep any shelves tidy and don’t have anything confidential out in the open.
If you are new to all this, just implement one thing at a time, we all started messy!
And when in doubt: If you wouldn’t allow or do it in a boardroom, don’t do it here.
