The team at Clarity Media Group has been conducting trainings and webinars over video conference for years, making them our go-to resource for the most important rules of the road to exude executive presence and leadership skills when communicating remotely.

Have you transitioned to the new normal yet? Tough, huh? For those of us working from home (so prevalent now it even has its own acronym: WFH), adjusting to your home as a once-or-twice-a-week telecommuting haven to an enforced daily workstation comes with a host of challenges. One of them is the constant communication over videoconference. While office conference tables collect dust, Zoom, BlueJeans, Skype and several other online VC platforms are humming with activity.

The problem is, very few people seem to know how to present themselves on a webcam in a way that amplifies their message and engages the others watching. If you think that you can be lax about your prep and the look and sound of it, you’re asking for trouble. Don’t lower your standards of professionalism just because it’s virtual. Others will not judge you by the same set of modest expectations.

Preparation:

Schedule the conference to run 20 minutes maximum. People’s ability to stay focused isn’t the same over VC as it is in person. You would have a better outcome if you planned two, 20-minute sessions (one morning – one afternoon) rather than one 40-minute conference. This will force everyone to be concise (a great fringe benefit) and may even break the scourge of the hour-long meeting rut we’re all dying to bid farewell to. This may be the perfect opportunity to recalibrate everyone’s inner mental clock before we return to the actual conference rooms.

As early as you can, send the meeting participants an outline or an agenda of what will be covered and advise those who will be asked to speak what is expected of them.

Develop a navigational roadmap of how you will run the call and stick to it, allowing for participation from others.

Make sure to test the video conference link 15-20 minutes before the scheduled start, just in case you need to troubleshoot. You should have the contact info for the meeting’s organizer in the event there is some technical issue. Your earbuds and laptop should both be fully charged. Quit all applications that audibly ping with notifications or direct messages. Those are all unwelcome distractions. In fact, completely turn off your cellphone.

Keep at the ready anything you might have to get up and retrieve during the call; a glass of water, a handkerchief/tissues, etc.


Execution:

Dress for Success: VC does not stand for “virtually clothed.” Sweats and pajamas are not a good way to audition for that raise and promotion, and it’s certainly not how you go about impressing and instilling trust in a client. Environmental psychology experts say that if you are underdressed, you are much more likely to underperform. For men, a shower and a shave are highly recommended. An open- neck dress shirt with either a vest or a sweater tends to look professional but casual enough for a home setting. Women should stick to the routine they follow when they work from an office, both in terms of wardrobe, hair and make-up.

Make a Beautiful Shot: Hovering over and peering down at your webcam is a not a flattering shot for you and it’s not a calming one for the other meeting participants. If others can see your ceiling, your laptop is too low on the surface in front of you.
To frame the shot perfectly, prop your laptop up on something (I keep two shoeboxes under my desk) so the webcam is equal with your eye level. You should be far enough away from the webcam so people can see the top two buttons of your shirt. Do not sit against a white wall unless you want to go for that hostage video look. You should have as much depth behind you as possible as long as a bright window is not part of the background. This will make the webcam adjust its iris and it will leave your face too dark. In fact, keep a source of light in front of you if possible.

For the foreseeable future, this is the medium we will all need to master if we are to achieve the enduring goals of business communication: being clear, concise, memorable and persuasive.