Whether you’re making or joining a group conference call for the first or twenty-first time, you should always try to be as professional and polite as possible. But it can be confusing to know where you could go wrong until after the fact. Therefore, we’ve compiled a few tips from industry professionals to help you know what behaviors and habits to promote, and which to avoid. Here’s how to put your best foot forward, even when the other people in the meeting won’t be seeing your feet.
Present Yourself Appropriately
While many conference calls can now happen from the comfort of your home, never sacrifice your standards for a professional appearance. Even if the call only lasts a couple of hours, go the extra mile and wear business attire and style your hair and makeup appropriately. Not only will you be sure to present a professional face to the other members in the call, but chances are you will feel more alert and focused just on the act of cleaning up and preparing for work. If it’s a short meeting or one where you will be presenting, standing with your webcam at eye level will sometimes also help you have a good, firm posture and speak clearly.
Lastly, make sure that the lighting and noise level are optimal in the room where you will be taking or making the call. Ambient light from a window as well as a gentle overhead will often get you the best lighting results, avoiding hard shadows or being backlit. For audio, you want a room that is large enough not to make your voice echo and preferably isn’t facing the main thoroughfare to avoid the sounds of traffic in the background of the call. Lastly, your background should be appropriate to the meeting, either a moderately blank wall or a tasteful setting relevant to the tone of the subject matter, such as a bookshelf. Never choose anything too busy, however, as that can distract from the true subject matter of the call.
Be Well Prepared
A large part of appearing professional, as well as respecting the valuable time and money of the other participants in your call, is to be as prepared as possible for the event. Whenever possible, especially if you are using new equipment for the call whether it’s a new webcam or you’ve changed to a new software program like BlueJeans, practice connecting and recording before your group conference call. This will generally give you time to diagnose any problems you might have, like connectivity issues or problems with unflattering lighting in your location of choice, if not fix them.
Additionally, practicing is even more important if you are operating on a schedule with only a certain amount of time to discuss your topics. Time yourself speaking if you need to lecture and see how long it takes you versus how long it should be and adjust as necessary. If it’s a more freeform, discussion based call, keeping an agenda in your line of sight such as on the wall just behind your webcam or laptop screen may help you keep your goals in mind as you talk. However, don’t forget to set aside a little bit of extra time before and after the call to make sure you can connect and disconnect successfully and to stay professional until you’re sure you’ve disconnected.
Respect Other Voices in the Call
Some video conferencing software will automatically silence other members of the call to sharpen the focus on whoever is speaking the loudest. This can have some very unfortunate side effects, especially if the loudest voice in the call is the background noise from someone who isn’t currently speaking. Therefore, unless it is an active discussion occurring in the call, it’s a good idea to have your end muted. This also allows you to take notes or screenshot any visuals without the disruptive sound of clicking keys affecting the call at all. On that note, taking notes is almost always a good idea, so don’t hesitate to write a few things down.
However, your note taking should never be so invasive as to distract you from the call itself, nor should it ever be mistaken for multitasking. Take notes when needed, and the rest of the time try to look directly at the webcam to simulate eye contact with the speaker. This ensures that you appear to be paying attention to what is said. Last and most important of all, however, is to keep your calm even in the face of errors and distractions. If you can keep a professional and polite facade even in the face of frustrating connectivity issues or while speaking on a crisis, you will almost certainly succeed.
In summary, much of success in a group video conference call is all about being prompt, polite, and professional. If you can accomplish these three things, even when calling from an informal setting like a hotel room or your bedroom, you should be just fine.