The hierarchy of communication in descending order of effectiveness: talking in person, yelling in person, talking on the phone, yelling on the phone, videoconferencing (while talking or yelling, take your pick). Videoconferencing is one of those things that we all generally endorse but is still new enough that we haven't fully adapted to it. We're not yet sure where to look. We're not sure when to speak. We're not used to seeing exactly what we look like when we're pretending to be interested.
An that's the thing: Videoconferencing assumes that seeing people (and ourselves, if we want) is a virtue. We could argue against this. We could argue that seeing people is totally overrated. But we'll do that some other time. Anyway, videoconferencing allows us to see things, too. Which can be extremely helpful. Especially if the thing is a product we're trying to get someone to buy. Or a handy chart on an easel. Or a thumb in the up position.
How
to Behave:
Video
conferencing isn't a combination of talking on the phone and meeting in
person. It's its own thing with its own set of rules, which pretty much
come down to this: "If you're not speaking, you have to remember that
the other five, six seven or eight people participating are also
watching you. "People
tend to forget that if they're not speaking they're also still being
viewed." Video has a
"multiplier effect" . When you add a multi site call you're looking
into several rooms simultaneously and vice versa, so each impression
you make when you enter that room is magnified and multiplied. Video
makes everyone a subject. Even when we're not speaking. So,
consider some rules about just being in a videoconference.
It's an instinct to look at the person you're speaking to of course but on a video call, it makes you look squirrelly. acknowledge what the video-ergonomists call " focal difference". When you not speaking look at the screen on your desktop. When you are speaking look at the camera. If you don't you look like you're looking off in th distance which is what people do when they're lying.
No multitasking. "Multitasking is painfully obvious. You can tell because their eyes are wandering across the screen. You can also tell because you hear the sound of clicks, which indicates using a mouse, typing an IM or practicing a tap routine--none of which connote respect for the subject at hand. If you're at home, don't sit on the couch. Or lie in bed with the computer on your chest. Both of those positions create what the painters call a "foreshortening" which is not flatering. The human form is not meant to be gazed upon in this way. Nostrils get involved and chins.
It's an instinct to look at the person you're speaking to of course but on a video call, it makes you look squirrelly. acknowledge what the video-ergonomists call " focal difference". When you not speaking look at the screen on your desktop. When you are speaking look at the camera. If you don't you look like you're looking off in th distance which is what people do when they're lying.
No multitasking. "Multitasking is painfully obvious. You can tell because their eyes are wandering across the screen. You can also tell because you hear the sound of clicks, which indicates using a mouse, typing an IM or practicing a tap routine--none of which connote respect for the subject at hand. If you're at home, don't sit on the couch. Or lie in bed with the computer on your chest. Both of those positions create what the painters call a "foreshortening" which is not flatering. The human form is not meant to be gazed upon in this way. Nostrils get involved and chins.
Your Environment.
The
most underrated part of a video call is the area around you---your
immediate milieu, if you will and if you're pretentious--because your
setting says as much about you as thepoints you're making. Before the
call take a quick look at what's in the camera's field of
view--espicially if you're videoconferencing from home. Or,
if the meeting is a momentous one. Tidy up a bit. Train the camera on
an area free of plush toys. Maybe throw Self-Hypnosis for Dummies in a
drawer. Move the Oreo Shake a few inches to theleft out of the way. The
point is this: Think about your environment. Know what's on your
credenza. Maybe throw some framed family photos on it. And if you think
you don't have a credenza you do. We all have a credenza.
Courtesy of: Crescent Moon Reatly, Inc.
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Courtesy of: Crescent Moon Reatly, Inc.
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