I’ve had some highlights during this lockdown time.
Our family has enlarged due to layoffs and school and university closures. That’s been nice.
Also, In the early morning of April 1st, I was able to convince some of them that a strange alien craft had landed on our local school field and that there were reports that creatures had emerged from the craft and the military was now in charge and that similar landings were happening all over the world and could they possibly be related to the virus (?!) but I don’t want to speculate, and probably not but I’m just saying could it be and what if??!!
One even got his or her coat on (no names/genders revealed) ready to go down and check out the action. Now it’s all about revenge for them.
When I told my wife about the alien landings she barely even looked up. This is her 26th April fools with me and was after an already lengthy lockdown. Could she be getting all Trevor’d out?
Another highlight? Learning point? Has been discovering the value of virtual meetings. By now we’ve all been in them. I’ve become something of a mini expert on this topic having led virtual meetings of all sizes and durations.
Yesterday I did an all-day planning meeting with a virtual group spread across the country. I’m even doing two large virtual keynotes for attendees all over North America; something that would have been unthinkable a few weeks ago.
Take our course on Business Meetings and Communication today!
So here are some tips for having a great Zoom, Teams, Google Hangouts etc meeting:
- Get the tech right.
This matters. A lot. No one can be laggy or have their voice cut out or stutter due to a slow internet connection. Cameras shouldn’t make you look like a bleary 70s B-movie star. Mics need to be of decent quality. Having proper tech will make everything 80% better instantly. - Watch how you look on camera.
I’m talking about the picture of you that others see. Don’t sit against a bright window that makes your face go dark. Make sure there’s adequate lighting so everyone can see you clearly. You might want to consider your background too. Does it enhance the confidence of the people you’re interacting with, especially if that someone is a customer or client?Turn on your camera when there isn’t a meeting going on and have a good look at yourself. How do you appear to others? Do you have RBF? Is your background a mess? Is your face poorly lit? Are you wearing pajamas?Think about it. How you present yourself matters. The number one reason people buy is CONFIDENCE IN THE SELLER. Just saying. - Make sure everyone has their own computer and camera.
This is huge. Don’t allow three people to sit in a boardroom all using the same camera and join the meeting with others on their own computers. They’re hard to see and hear and it reduces the impact of your meeting dramatically. When everyone is clearly visible and has their own camera, a strange intimacy happens. You can see and hear them all clearly, and it sets the stage for a good meeting. - Get personal.I like to start meetings off with a check in. Score yourself out of 10 in three categories: Health, work and personal. Supply some commentary so you can see where everyone’s at. Closeness is perfectly possible in a virtual meeting. Don’t dismiss it.
Digital communication isn’t going to go away. In fact, it’s one of the lasting changes that will come out of this period of lockdown. So, use it to your advantage and get great at it!
