How to Elevate Your Presence in a Virtual Meeting

With the outbreak of the epidemic and the normalization of the hybrid work model, an increasing amount of work has been transferred to a virtual environment, and video conferencing such as Tencent Meetings and Zoom has become a new normal way of meeting. However, interpersonal communication strategies in the context of a conference room may not translate perfectly to virtual meetings. Andy Molinsky, professor of organizational behavior, suggests thinking of virtual meetings as "an entirely different context, not simply an in-person meeting or a class on a screen."

Professional speech coach and communication bestselling author Joel Schwartzberg offers six tips in the Harvard Business Review on how to enhance personal voice and presence in virtual meetings.

1) Focus on the camera

Eye contact is one important non-verbal skill in communication. In a video conference, you should be staring at the camera, not looking at the faces of other colleagues. This may sound easy, but since we are used to looking at each other's faces when communicating face-to-face, it can be challenging to focus on the camera throughout the video meeting - especially when the other person is talking. It will take constant practice for you to get used to this new habit.

2) Raise your volume

In a video conference, you can make yourself a little louder than you would normally speak as if you were speaking in a large conference room. This allows your voice to be stronger and clearer, better conveying authority, credibility and confidence.

3) Note your position in the frame

In a video conference, your entire head and the upper part of your shoulders should take the center of the frame. If the entire frame contains only your head, that means you are too close to the camera. If your entire upper body is in the frame, you are too far away and will be less attractive to the audience. At the same time, you should be careful to keep the background simple and clean to show professionalism. Using the virtual background provided by the video conferencing software is also a solution. You should make sure to adjust the frame and background before accessing the video.

4) Always keep the mindset of "in the meeting"

In traditional offline meetings, participants usually pay close attention to their own state, avoiding being distracted. But in the video conference, you are likely to slack off because you are participating in the meeting at home, across the screen. Imagine the situation where you were on mute and went to work on other tasks, and someone happened to ask a question, and you don’t want to be caught unprepared. Such incidents could easily affect your professional reputation. Also, because you are less aware of social cues in virtual meetings, you also need to be careful about when and how often you speak to avoid interrupting or offending others.

5) Avoid situations that may distract others

In a virtual meeting environment, there are many situations that may distract others from listening to you, which can weaken your output of ideas. Therefore, you should avoid distracting situations whenever possible. For example, you can train yourself to mute when you are not speaking and unmute only when you are speaking, which will prevent your ambient noise from disturbing others in the meeting. When you are doing something visually distracting, such as shifting locations, you can temporarily turn off the camera.

6) Make good use of the chat window

The chat window in a virtual meeting can be a tool to enhance your presence. When you mention an article or shared file in your presentation, you can add a link to it in the chat window. When others speak, you can show support or ask questions in the chat. Proper use of the chat window can demonstrate your presence in the meeting and add dimension to your ideas.