Virtual conferences are booming as remote working becomes the norm, with a 115% increase in employees telecommuting for work in the last decade.

If you’re one of these employees, you’ll know that certain aspects of remote life are incredibly stressful. One of these is video conferencing.

Video meetings are booming and fast, replacing audio and face-to-face meet-ups. It’s important to master this practice to keep up with your executive remote lifestyle. Check out these virtual meeting tips to help you do just that.

1. Use Video-On Policy

All companies should have a video-on policy, but you as an employee should have a similar personal policy. If you don’t use your camera on an instant conference call, you hinder effective communication by taking away non-verbal cues.

Having a conversation with just a voice makes it difficult to build trust or to speak and be heard with authority. It also helps you to remain focused on the meeting and avoid multi-tasking. Using video is, by far, one of the most important virtual conference tips.

2. Prepare for Glitches

If you’re going to be leading a meeting or giving a virtual presentation, you need to prepare for glitches. This is especially true if you need to allocate a certain amount of time. Always give yourself more time than you think you’ll need, as more often than not, you’ll run into some technical issues.

If you prepare yourself for this, you won’t be flustered and rushing through the rest of your presentation. This is one of the most important tips for running a virtual meeting.

3. Test Technology Beforehand

Spend time testing your internet connection, microphone, and your webcam to ensure they’re working well and up to your standards. For example, you may want to play around with your webcam positioning (which should be at eye-level).

While you can’t completely avoid technical glitches, you can reduce the likelihood by spending a couple of minutes before each meeting testing your devices.

4. Have a Core Focus for Each Meeting

Spitballing ideas or having a meeting without an agenda doesn’t work well with virtual meet-ups. For successful virtual conferencing, make sure that you have a clear objective for the meeting and work to stay on track and reach the goals you’ve set out.

It’s not efficient for the entire office to sit and listen to minor issues or complications that only involve one department or a few employees. Schedule separate meetings and keep the focus centered and based on a few key topics rather than trying to figure things out as you go.

5. Share the Microphone

It isn’t easy to coordinate a fruitful discussion between many people in a virtual meeting. One of the best tips for effective virtual meetings is to remain conscientious about sharing the mic with your colleagues or meeting partner.

You can encourage them to talk or take regular pauses to allow space for someone else to enter into the conversation. Whether you are leading the meeting or not, this is one of the most effective virtual meeting tips to avoid one person dominating the meeting or everyone talking over each other.

Grab Success With These Virtual Meeting Tips

Armed with these virtual meeting tips, you have the ability to grow and succeed in your remote work. With a bit of preparation, video conferencing can be a helpful tool instead of a cause of stress.

If you found this post helpful and informative, then keep exploring our site for more tips and tricks!