Before 2020, many of us rarely used video conferencing. This year, it’s become a vital form of communication. Just like conducting a business phone call, maintaining professionalism is essential during a video call – especially if you’re communicating with clients. Below are several ways in which you can improve the quality of your video calls in order to keep them professional and productive.
Familiarize yourself with the tech
If a client has invited you to have a conversation on a videoconferencing platform that you’ve never used before, it could be worth familiarizing yourself with the technology first. This can prevent you from spending the first five minutes of the call working out how to open the camera or view everyone in the chat on one screen. Similarly, if you’ve decided to buy yourself a microphone or camera, hook this up first to check that it is working.
Improve your internet connection
Conducting video calls with a poor internet connection will be frustrating for you and the other callers – especially if the connection keeps cutting out and you have to keep restarting the call. Consider whether your internet connection needs improving. There are business broadband service packages built for small businesses that could be worth looking into. If you’re conducting a video call while on the move, make sure to find somewhere with good connection before you start the call.
Get the angle and lighting right
It’s worth spending some time setting up your camera in the right position before you start the call. You may want to raise the monitor of your computer or prop our laptop/phone somewhere so that the camera is directly in front of your face – avoid low angles so that callers aren’t having to look up your nostrils. Similarly, make sure that the light isn’t too dim or intense. Avoid placing strong light behind you as this could make you appear as a silhouette.
Reduce background noise
Background noise may prevent other callers from hearing you properly. Make sure that you’re conducting a video call in a quiet environment – it could be worth turning the radio down and warning colleagues so that they can keep conversation at a low volume. Alternatively, you could invest in a background noise cancelling microphone.
Prepare notes
Just like a physical meeting or a scheduled phone call, it’s important that the video call has a purpose and a structure to it. Consider making notes to help outline the key points of conversation that you want to cover so that nothing is missed. You should also gather any resources that you may need to reference during the call such as reports – you don’t want to be awkwardly scrambling around to find documents during the call. Being prepared will prevent awkward silences or hesitation, the likes of which will be harder to disguise on a video call than a phone call. Treat it as an in-person meeting by gathering all the information you need before starting the call.
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