In my opinion one of the very best things to come out of COVID is the mass acceptance of virtual meetings, presentations and video conferences. We have all realised the time saving and increased productivity benefits and quite frankly, convenience, in our busy days.
What are the top ways to optimise your presence and engagement during virtual meetings and online presentations?
WHAT IS THE BEST BODY LANGUAGE ONLINE?
- Posture – make sure you sit up straight (it is easy to slouch) and lean a bit forward as you would in a face to face meeting. Definitely do not lean back away from the screen. If you tend to do this, stand up. Especially if you are presenting and doing most of the talking. Standing up will give you more energy and you will use your hands better.
- Eye Contact Level – this our pet hate at Communication & Media Manoeuvres. The amount of people’s noses we have looked up (not attractive ever) is crazy and looking down is not great either. You need to look directly at the camera lens (this is not as easy as it sounds because we tend to look at and talk to the people on the screen who are below the camera). Have your camera at level with your eyes – I know this seems obvious but I would say over half the people we have seen don’t do that. All you need are some books to raise a laptop or a screen.
WHAT ARE THE TIPS FOR GESTURES, HAND AND BODY MOVEMENT?
- Deliberate and conscious gestures – be purposeful, and use your hand gestures to emphasise points e.g. use your fingers to express three points ‘1, 2, 3’ or upper and lower levels for before and after.
- Don’t overdo it – constantly flying hands on screen can be really distracting and annoying.
- Make sure you don’t cross your arms which can create the impression of all sorts of things (anger, boredom, disagreement, lack of confidence or lack of interest or sloppiness!) and keep your palms open – to instil trust and inclusion.
- Keep your body calm and relatively still unless you want to show wild enthusiasm and a high level of energy for something you are excited about.
WHAT ARE THE BEST FACIAL EXPRESSIONS ONLINE?
- Be Yourself – maintain a friendly, open expression especially at the beginning. A warm smile sets a positive tone and makes you human and approachable.
- Even though you may be nervous or addressing a problem or serious issue, relax your face muscles. Avoid appearing tense or rigid as this can disengage your audience and promote a more aggressive approach.
- Match your expressions to your message – that is, be expressive! Vary your expressions to reflect the mood or tone of your message. For example: use a serious expression for critical points and of course knock yourself out by using excitement and wider eyes (and hand gestures) for exciting messages.
- At all costs avoid monotony: A lack of expression is boring to watch, will produce fast disengagement and worst, it can make you appear disinterested or robotic even if you aren’t! If you are slightly introverted and know you don’t have a lot of light and shade in your voice tone and facial expression – push yourself out of your comfort zone.
Make the most of your online engagement by being conscious of how you appear. What your ‘impression’ is to other people online and in Zoom and MS Teams virtual meetings. We recommend that when you are practising for a meeting or presentation, film yourself and review it (or ask someone to do it) and decide what your impression is and whether it is the right impression or needs to change to get the results you want.
