10 top tips for effective online meetings
- 1. Embrace video calling. Being present and
seeing each other is an important part of keeping connected. Don’t hide away or
do other work during the meeting.
- 2. Use headsets or earphones. This will give
better sound quality. Speak directly into the mic and remember to mute it when
not speaking to limit background noise.
- 3. Speak clearly and steadily. This will help
ensure everyone can understand you. And try to modulate your voice, to keep
people interested and engaged.
- 4. Establish etiquette guidelines. Agree a system
to give everyone a voice. Arrange ‘hands up’ signals to agree who speaks next
and use chat functions to allow everyone to contribute.
- 5. Repeat the question. The chair or presenter
should repeat questions they ask or before answering them, to ensure all
participants are aware of the original question. Repeating the question in
writing within a chat box could provide additional clarity.
- 6. Use names and give context. When responding to
chat comments, repeat the relevant remarks and make clear who you’re responding
to. Don’t just say ‘yes, Rose that’s right’ because others may not have seen
Rose’s comment and it won’t make sense to them.
- 7. Keep slides simple. Keep to a single thought
per slide to help participants understand and focus on what’s being discussed.
It’s better to have more slides with fewer things on them.
- 8. Keep slides visual. Your participants may be
joining from a mobile device and wordy slides will be tough to read. Anchor
your presentation on relevant, image-based slides.
- 9. Engage participants regularly. It’s hard to
simply listen online for a long time. Invite participants to give comments or
ask questions, and use tools like chat or polls.
- 10. Be explicit about actions and summaries. Spell
out clearly any actions that need to be taken and by whom. Summaries meeting
takeaways and circulate notes promptly.
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