10 Mistakes Video- and Audio-Conferencing
Participants Make That Mess Up Their Meetings

Mistake #1: Paying no attention to equipment and set-up

You can do almost anything in a videoconference that you can do in person-lecture, discuss, create visuals, display graphics, demonstrate things. You simply have to do them a little differently. This difference in setting and equipment requires that you give more forethought and planning to the how.

Avoid rooms with predominately white and dark colors because they create unnatural-looking skin tones. Avoid wild patterns in drapes, murals, carpets, or upholstery of chairs. Remove art or other framed objects with reflective surfaces that may cause glare. Ideally, lighting should come from multiple sources around the room. Point lights away from the cameras and monitors to avoid glare and "washing out" images.

Pay particular attention to the seating arrangement. There are two preferred seating arrangements for best interaction: (1) Have participants sit in the arc of an oval on one side of the table. They can then see the monitor and each other (at least better than sitting shoulder to shoulder). (2) Have participants sit at the corner of a rectangular table, with two on one side of the corner and two on the other side of the corner. In either arrangement, when the participants are on camera, they will all appear to be facing the other sites, yet they can still see and hear each other at the local site.

Mistake #2: Failing to generate audience involvement

Prepare audience-involvement questions. To encourage discussion, have prepared questions to stimulate thought and response and to move the group toward accomplishing the purpose. When discussion careens out of control, guide with focused questions.

Plan change-of-pace activities. For an idea of frequency, watch television network news broadcasts and count how many times there's a change of visuals during coverage of one single news broadcast. Plan your own presentation accordingly. Consider adding graphics, interactive surveys, discussion questions, site breakout activities, interviews with experts, reports, or video clips to keep the participants' interest. Remember that they will be comparing your broadcast to what they see daily on major television networks.

Mistake #3: Dressing without success

Avoid patterned fabrics such as large prints, dots, plaids, and stripes, all of which may "dance" on the screen. Camera lenses also have difficulty balancing certain extreme colors such as black and white. And occasionally, red "bleeds." For shirts and blouses, prefer pastels rather than white. Medium-dark colors at the center of the spectrum package you best: royal blue, purple, burgundy, navy, green, or charcoal gray. Avoid scarves, ruffles, complex-pattern ties, or fabrics that rustle or jewelry that clanks when you move.

Mistake #4: Being Anonymous

Introduce yourself and other participants with a banner at each site during a videoconferencing or by voice during an audio conference. Also include support staff or technicians and their roles in the meeting or broadcast. Then have other sites introduce their participants, support staff, and observers along with their roles. You may find it helpful to appoint a chairperson at each site to handle the introductions and administrative tasks.

Ask all participants to identify themselves each time they speak because in large groups it is easy to lose the thread of a conversation when several voices may sound alike. For example, "This is Kevin in Miami. I have a question for the New Orleans site . . ." helps to orient everyone quickly. The only exception from these repeated identifications is the primary presenter or host.

Mistake #5: Going Groundless--without Rules

Review any guidelines or ground rules that will increase productivity. For example, remind people about the pause before or after speaking. Encourage those who will be speaking for longer periods-such as during your question-and-answer period or during other planned interactivity-to say when they have finished with their remarks so that others know this quickly. Also, to avoid confusion, remind participants to identify themselves and their site when they speak.

Mistakes #6: Leading with the Top of Your Head

If you've been the lone ranger at a remote site, you understand the feeling of staring into a sea of heads when others have forgotten you're on the planet. Don't forget you are supposed to be "connecting" with another group rather than staring at your notes on the conference table in front of you. If there are multiple cameras, check the TV monitor to make sure that you are facing the camera that is currently online. And make sure that you are completely within the camera's field of vision as you speak.

Mistake #7: Forgetting the Ever-Present Camera and the Open, Sensitive Mic

Be careful that you are not inadvertently calling attention to your movement, shuffling papers, strumming fingers, swiveling chair, coughing fits, sighs and harrumphs, tapping pen or pointer, water glass, or snacks. Several water glass clanks on a hard table can sound like a hailstorm at another site. Also, give attention to posture. Just because you cannot see your audience during a broadcast does not mean that they cannot see you. Avoid unconscious mannerisms such as rubbing your eyes, tossing your hair back, flipping your tie, or twirling a pencil.

Because microphones are very sensitive, it is a good idea to mute the audio at any time that you are not speaking to eliminate all extraneous noise: air conditioners coming on and off, background conversations, projector noise, rustling paper, pencil tapping, coughing, or throat clearing.

Be careful about sudden moves toward the camera. Extending your hands, flailing your arms, shifting your weight, crossing your legs-such movements look aggressive and even make your hands or arms look much larger as they plunge forward. The camera greatly exaggerates wide, sweeping gestures and pointing fingers and may make you look hysterical rather than authoritative.

Mistake #8: Accentuating the Negative

Be aware that gestures and facial expressions are exaggerated on camera. A scowl may seem overly harsh and disapproving. To lighten up your facial expressions, think how you appear when you are slightly amused. That is, raise your eyebrows slightly and keep your gaze and chin turned slightly upward. Caress the camera with your eyes to show sincerity and warmth. Or try to visualize the camera as a colleague sitting directly in front of you, nodding or raising an eyebrow at everything you say.

Mistake #9: Lapsing into a Monotone

Be extra mindful of vocal variety. Vary your speech patterns and voice-fast and slow rate of speaking, high and low pitch, loud and soft volume, inflection, emphasis, and intonation. While important during in-person presentations, vocal variety becomes crucial in videoconferencing. A monotonous presentation online puts people to sleep.

Mistake #10: Waxing Eloquent-Or Not

Break long monologues into shorter chunks. Unlike face-to-face conversations, where others can signal with body language that they want the floor, participants grow even more impatient because they feel helplessly trapped listening to a monologue without opportunity for comment or question. Such reminders particularly serve a purpose when some systems allow only one speaker at a time. With those systems, others literally cannot interrupt.

Consider people as participants, not passive viewers. Plan some early interaction so that they feel a part of the group from the beginning. In general, virtual presentations should be shorter than traditional ones because it is more difficult to hold participants' attention.

Video- and audio-conferencing increases productivity, saves travel time and money, and contributes to a team-building culture. Use the equipment and adapt your presentation and speaking style to take full advantage of the medium.

ARTICLE TAGLINE FOR DIANNA BOOHER, CSP

Copyright By Dianna Booher, CEO of Booher Consultants, a communication training firm offering workshops in oral presentations and technical writing, and an author of 40 books. Tips excerpted from Speak with Confidence: Powerful Presentations That Inform, Inspire, and Persuade (McGraw-Hill, 2003). www.dianna-booher.com. 817-868-1200.

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