Virtual Meetings: Eight Skills to Make You a Star on the Web

Since I first sat in on a web-based meeting several decades ago, I’ve felt that it is one of the most difficult environments to excel with respect to communications. It’s NOT the same as meeting live humans around a table. There is more to monitor, more that can go wrong, and bad skills are highlighted and have dire consequences. It’s (relatively) easy to pull off a web meeting; it’s (very) difficult to make it matter and come out with the results you want.

** WARNING: If your meeting was going to be bad in person, it will be WORSE online! **

No technology in the world can make up for bad content or bad skills. Just because people “met” does not mean we met objectives or had a good reason to meet.

Here are eight skills to make you a star on the web.

1)  Avoid Distractions

Side conversations are the norm. Private chat is available in most online tools (Zoom, WebEx, Teams, etc.). I don’t trust myself to remember to select the right person, so I prefer to use another channel. It’s not uncommon for a web participant to have Skype, text, and email going to other participants during a call. This is all well and good, but it does divide our attention. None of us multitasks well. None of us. You need to work hard to engage folks. Which is another reason why I’m pro-video. It’s at least proof that you’re in the room and not asleep.

2) Participate non-verbally

This can only be done if video is enabled, but it’s a great way to both stay engaged yourself and to give needed feedback to the audience. Instead of breaking in and interrupting the audio flow, when it makes sense just respond with a nod or a thumbs up. For example, if someone is unsure if they’re being heard, they might ask directly if their audio is clear. Instead of 20 people breaking in with “Oh sure!”, head nods can get the same message. Same thing for a good idea you agree with. At a table in a live setting, we might all murmur and say, “That’s right,” but it’s going to be hard to hear that in a web environment. Just nod vigorously and let them continue.

3) S.T.O.P.

Delivery skills are important in person. They may be even more important remotely. The skills we teach in our workshops translate perfectly to the web environment with one exception. The two biggies are: S.T.O.P.ing and going big. S.T.O.P. is the acronym (Single Thought, One Person) we teach for creating pauses and eliminating non-words. Non-words are (sadly) normal. They seem to be even worse on the web as people search for words and any sort of feedback. Pausing is still important. Sounding confident still goes a long way. As Aristotle put it, “The impression created by the speaker as he utters the speech is the single greatest power of persuasion.” Your delivery skills create that impression (and here, your skills at using the platform also contribute to that impression). Sentences that are separated are easier to listen to. This is especially true when language is an issue. With bandwidth causing syllables to drop in and out and quality to change by the second, clarity is of the utmost importance on the web. Learn to give distinct, short sentences.

This has one negative side effect, especially with rude audiences. When you STOP, some people butt in. That’s where good video presence goes a long way. Stay engaged. Show with facial expressions that you’re still engaged in speaking. Hold your place with a hand motion, perhaps. And, if necessary, hold your ground.

4) Go Big (or go home – wait, you already ARE at home!)

You need to express. More. More than that even. Video takes an interesting three-dimensional object (you!) and compresses it into two dimensions visually with a limited field of view. And it mutes the sound, puts on filters and compressors, and makes you generally much less appealing than you are in person. In order to combat this, you still need to gesture, smile, and change your voice. Gestures done well will modulate your voice. Moving your hands with no purpose is just distracting. Pushing a facial expression beyond what you think is needed is engaging and moves an audience to attentiveness and reaction. Staring blankly off camera makes me want to do the same.

Just like our live workshops, this is something that takes practice and usually video reviews to convince yourself that you aren’t as interesting as you feel (or as loud; or soft; or smiling; or dynamic). One of the things we would advocate is using the record feature of your online meeting tool simply so that you can review what you sound like. You’re not a good judge of yourself. Find an interested third party that can help you become better. Like most (all?) skills in life, you can get better with coaching and practice. Doing it more (which we can expect you to do) is not practice. Get better!

We aren’t relegated to a boring life of incessant web calls and meaningless video chats. Use skills, logistics, and human decency to create messages that are interesting and productive.

5) Talk to the camera

In our live workshops, we rigorously teach speakers to speak only to a set of eyes. That’s impossible over the web. But your audience’s eyes are represented by the camera you’re using. As much as possible, speak directly into the camera. This is affected by camera angles and window positions as discussed above, but it’s best to give the audience the impression you are talking directly to them.

6) Use big gestures, voice, and animation

Just because you aren’t in the same room does not mean that you can’t express and emphasize your points through gestures, vocal variety, and being more animated. Even for live presenters, this is one of the hardest skills to master. But there are so many benefits for the presenter who can learn to be more animated. The most obvious is the natural change in voice that big gestures, facial expressions, and animation bring about (don’t believe me? Find the YouTube video of your favorite animated movie voiceover by searching “behind the scenes voiceover <movie name>” e.g. Toy Story.)

7) Ask good questions

In Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Ben Stein plays the role of the boring economic teacher. He drones on in a monotone voice and asks terrible questions. “Anyone? Anyone?” “Raised or lowered? Raised? Did it work? Anyone know the effects?” This doesn’t work live, and it SURE doesn’t work over the web. When you want a response, ask questions that demand responses. A good way to do this is to start with the Magic Word of Questions: What…? (or maybe How…?) If you really want others to chime in, avoid any question that could be answered with a Yes or No (we call them binary questions). If you need to know if your sound is working, “Nod (or thumbs up) if you can hear me” works fine and doesn’t take more time than it should.

8) Embrace the Pause

Pausing is one of the hardest skills to do well. It feels like forever. If it’s hard in person, it’s REALLY hard over the web. There just isn’t enough visual feedback and your eye contact doesn’t have the same power it does live to get a response from your audience. A student commented: “I’ve always used your advice when asking questions and paused while they gathered their thoughts. I got over what used to feel awkward a long time ago. But pausing in person is way easier because you can ‘read the room.’ But in an online view of a headshot only, those pauses seemed eternal. I didn’t know if they were gathering their thoughts or watching Netflix on another screen.”

This article is an excerpt from our practical tips Guide, VIRTUAL COMMUNICATION: Mastering the Online Meeting. You can download the complete Guide for FREE at https://www.millswyck.com/virtualmeetings/. In this practical guide for success, I also discuss 1) Getting Ready to Meet, 2) Your Equipment and Setup, 3) Content and Facilitation, and 4) Ending Well.

Leave a comment: What techniques are you finding work well in the online world we’re in now?