Staying Professional (and Engaged) in Virtual Meetings

Commentary on the article Career Couch: Staying Professional in Virtual Meetings from The New York Times by Eilene Zimmerman
In her article, Eilene addresses some of the key points of how personal conduct during a virtual meeting can differ from that in face-to-face meetings.

She hits on some important points about staying professional in virtual meetings from the perspective of being a participant. I totally agree that virtual meetings are now a staple of the business world. One key item she left out about virtual meetings… you need to pay even more attention to your PowerPoint visuals – if you are using them. As Eilene points out, the visual component of your virtual meeting is very important.

Visuals can add to the success of your meeting by keeping people more engaged than a basic audio call. Personally, I hate long boring “audio only” conference calls – because without any means of keeping everyone on the same page, they tend to drift (or I do).

But what about PowerPoint? It is so easy to add these to an online meeting, why would anyone choose not to take advantage of this visual tool? For virtual meetings, it important to have engaging PowerPoint visuals to keep your participant’s eyes away from their smart phone screens.

When you have a global, multi-lingual audience it’s critical to have visuals that support your message. They will assist in the difficult task of sharing information in a language that is not native to all.

Virtual meetings can make sharing important information amongst a group easier than ever before. I love a good virtual meeting, although I do miss some of those wonderful catered lunches served in the conference room.

Read the article: Career Couch: Staying Professional in Virtual Meetings by EILENE ZIMMERMAN