do you participate in a lot of virtual
meetings and wondering how you can make
them more effective well by the end of
this video I'm going to give you my top
tips on virtual meeting etiquette so
that your meetings can be more
productive and if you stay tuned to the
end of this video I'm gonna give you my
master hax productivity checklist to
boost your productivity hi if you're new
here welcome for the best career and
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to you every Wednesday I have
facilitated and participated in
countless of virtual meetings and let me
tell you I have seen people make some
common mistakes over and over again and
what I want to share with you is some
virtual meeting etiquette that's gonna
make your meeting and we're productive
and really just help everybody out on
that particular call okay lights camera
action this is a stuff we're going to be
talking about plus some other coolest
things so if you're excited to like this
video and let's get to it
lights lighting is everything when it
comes to our virtual call it is really
important that you have lights on why
because my assumption is you have video
on you know how important it is for
people to see you so if you're sitting
in a dark room guess what you're
probably gonna be dark too so wherever
you are with your meeting make sure
lights are on better yet make sure you
have natural light because I promise you
it if it makes you look better and if
you do have natural light face the
windows all that natural light radiates
on you I've seen some people actually
have their back to the window which
means all of that beautiful natural
light is now behind them creating a huge
shadow that's a big no-no people can't
see you so lights are critical
particularly with video on have all the
lights on and if you can use natural
light whenever possible I promise you it
makes you look good camera it's all
about the angles on your camera so it's
really important not only the lighting
but take a look at the positioning of
your camera have you ever taken a photo
of yourself a selfie and the camera and
angle was all wrong and was like oh not
good maybe even you're looking up your
nose same thing with the camera on your
computer when you're doing virtual calls
so one of the things I recommend highly
is get some sort of stand for your
computer and lift it up you want the
camera to be at your
I level so you're directly looking into
the camera
in essence looking eye to eye to your
other people in the mating action pass a
virtual Talking Stick so what do I mean
by this when it comes to meeting
etiquette virtual meeting etiquette well
you have great lighting you have great
camera angle now your meeting is going
and you have tons of noise behind you
the dog is barking the doorbell rings
that drowns out when you have someone
speaking they can't hear the other
participants can't hear what other
people are saying so there's a couple of
things that you can do here number one
in meetings mute yourself unless you're
talking so you have to remember that
really important it just drowns out that
background noise and when you do have to
talk and it to the dog does bark that's
okay that's called life and other things
you also want to be really respectful
for is if you do want to have a point
when someone else is talking used a chat
function depending on your meeting your
virtual meeting software you may even
have abilities to raise your hands
things of that nature so use that
functionality in order to make sure that
everybody has a turn talking and you can
actually hear what other people are
saying stay present okay this is really
important because I've seen this happen
to so many times yes your mic is muted I
get it you're not talking but it doesn't
mean you can start doing the other work
doesn't mean that you should be going on
your phone and checking up text because
guess what people can see that if you're
in a meeting you're there for a reason
so stay present if you can hide your
phone put it on vibrate don't go to it
and check the text because people can
see it you do not want to be doing other
things while you're in the meeting if
you are then the question is why are you
there and you should be challenging the
meeting facilitator if that's the case
other things too is when you're working
from home really connect with people in
your home let them know that hey I'm
working from home perhaps you have a
Power Hour on your door for people not
to come if you're lucky enough to have a
home office or you just let them know
Shh be really really quiet because we
have things going on it's all good but
just make sure that you're present in
the moment and you keep people around
you as well so they understand that you
need to be present too and not to drag
you away keep it professional
okay you may be saying to yourself
Adrianna it's not just obvious I'm in a
business meeting of course I'm going to
keep it professional however you will be
surprised and I've seen this happen from
an etiquette perspective some people
just don't I don't know why maybe
because they feel like they're at home
and they can do whatever they want and
particularly with video on now it is
really important to keep it even more
professional so what are some of the
things you can do check like your
background if you're gonna have a
virtual meeting and video really should
be on check out what people are looking
at behind you yes I know some of the
softer has ability for you to actually
put different backgrounds behind you but
I promise you people move their heads
and then they can still see through
whatever background you put through so
if you can get a little like a TV table
a portable table that and set it up
where you're behind something that you
feel very comfortable with that's one
way another way to keep things
professional is take a look at what
you're wearing now I'm not saying you
get dressed up in a suit I'm not even
saying that you fully have to go all out
like you're you are in the office or
whatever office attire is acceptable for
your organization
but guess what don't wear your pajamas
like particularly in a virtual meeting
when your camera is on just really keep
clean and neat and it's all good the
purpose is you're in a meeting to get
stuff done just really keep it
professional no eating most of the time
alright I struggled with this one a bit
and you may as well and when I think
about all the virtual meetings that I've
been having as of late I'm back to back
to back to back virtual meeting when do
I have a time to actually eat so here's
a couple of things which is why I say
most of the time it can be really
tempting when we're on mute and we know
people can't hear us to start gobbling
up whatever we need to gobble up I get
it I get it you know you have to play
things by ear however really be wise and
smart about it so think about your food
choices that you pick if you're gonna be
eating on camera now you could also do
this let the person know who's
facilitating and meeting you know what
this is my lunch hour I haven't had
lunch yet I want us to have the
conversation I want to participate in
the meeting I'm gonna turn my video off
while I'm eating I'm still here and then
once you're done you can turn your video
on I've seen that done which is a really
nice way to compromise particularly when
you're back to back-to-back meetings
other things to to consider
because I run virtual workshops all the
time we're in a big set you know block
of time people do need a little bit of
energy right so you know I do tell them
bring your snacks it's okay so I set it
up right away so if you run virtual
meetings set it up for people that it's
okay to either eat or not eat but you
have to play this one by ear which is
why I say most of the time no eating but
obviously have that cup of coffee
sipping on a drink is absolutely okay
and you may want to have a smoothie and
LU of some food as a suggestion now that
you know how to have excellent virtual
meeting etiquette and I promise you
other people around you're gonna be very
appreciative and you can lead the pack I
want to give you something else under
this video there's a link for this a
master hack productivity tips tricks
cool stuff that is just gonna even
catapult you further in your career so
check it out so don't forget to
subscribe to this channel like this
video and please share it with all the
people that you know I would love to
hear which tip are you gonna start
embracing or perhaps you have something
that you can add to the list that I've
already given I'd love to hear from you
in the comments below
on that note see it the next video