Now that we have all embraced the ‘new normal’, and are planning to permanently transition to hybrid work, a lot of people have asked me about my thoughts. What is the ideal setup for effective remote meetings when working from home? What do you need to consider when setting up hybrid and huddle spaces at work? What are the most important things to consider when trying to engage during a video conferencing and screen sharing session? What are the best practices?
Most articles about remote meetings talk about lighting and cameras, and I wont harp on that as these subjects as they have been beaten to death already. I want to talk about the things that no one else is thinking about and some of my learning from years of watching people present using existing video conferencing tools.
The importance of presence during an online meeting
Yes, you must portray a good image during any online presentation. Human brains are wired to respond to faces and people – not PowerPoint decks. If you want to build any trust and make your customers gain confidence, this is essential. A good light and a decent camera is a low bar now.
But not a lot of people are talking about how video conferencing apps minimize your presence and prioritize your screen sharing data. Most video conference apps minimize your audience to the size of a tiny postage stamp in the corner of your screen and reduce your image on your audiences’ screens as well. That means that neither of you can maintain eye contact anymore! This dramatically reduces the effectiveness of any virtual meeting regardless of the remote meeting tool that you are using.
You, and your audience, are in each other’s blind spot! This is not good if you are trying to build trust, create memories and ultimately close a deal!
Leverage a secondary monitor in your screen sharing session
There is a simple, and cost effective, solution. Not a lot of people realize that they can leverage a secondary monitor and create a much better remote experience. Did you know that all remote conferencing apps allow you to use a secondary monitor? In this situation you put your content onto the primary laptop screen and use the secondary monitor as the audience monitor.
This mimics the natural way we work when you are face to face. You are sitting across the virtual table and working on your laptop. You can glance up and easily see the other members ‘across the table’. And if you pin your camera using Reactiv SUITE, you will also allow them to see you easily – together with your content. It creates a powerful remote meeting experience using hardware that you already have lying around
Leverage an Interactive Whiteboard for the next level experience
If you are like me, you can’t match the energy of standing up in front of your audience and giving that presentation. I personally love to interact with my audience, standing in the front of a boardroom. It allows me to express myself using body language and people give their attention more easily when you are standing.
This is also not very difficult to accomplish, even in your home office. Simply get an interactive whiteboard or a touch screen monitor connected to your laptop. Then your laptop can serve as an audience monitor in front of you. In this scenario you can stand and use the interactive whiteboard and invite your audience to your virtual home boardroom any time you want.
Reactiv SUITE to power your online meetings
Reactiv SUITE is designed to solve the problem of low engagement in meetings. Pin your camera and elevate your presence. Put your audience on a secondary monitor and elevate their presence. Show content and manipulate multimedia files as easily as if they were paper. Write, ink, highlight, underline and markup documents to focus your audience’s attention.
Deliver impactful presentations that create long lasting memories and build trust.
Discover how Reactiv SUITE can help make your meetings memorable with a free trial!
