Advice

Before your next presentation or meeting, check this page for pointers. We'll change our tips often.

Videoconferencing

• Fax or email the agenda and important documents to participants the day before the meeting. This ensures that everyone will be able to read materials ahead of time in case they do not transmit adequately via the cameras.
• Determine if the meeting facilitator will also be the camera keypad control operator. If not, assign this resposibility to another participant.
• Build five minutes into the beginning of the agenda to combine a technical check with introductions. Ask the participants at every site to introduce themselve, one at a time, by raising their hands or waving gently as they speak. This will pinpoint any problems with microphones and lightling so that adjustments can be made before the meeting's official business starts. It also enables people to associate a name and a function with a face.
• Don't over-direct. Use varying camera shots to provice visual interest, but fewer is better than more because participants stay focused on meeting content.
• Smile. Relax. Enjoy!