It is hard enough to prepare for a face-to-face meeting or a phone meet, but nowadays, some of us have to cope with the occasional (or even regular) video business meeting. Even though essentially the same as a face-to-face meet, a video business meeting brings with it extra trepidations, worries and concerns that seem more exaggerated than they really are. I think it’s merely seeing yourself on screen or seeing others that makes you more conscious of your performance. Need some advice on how to succeed and how to rock your business video meeting with proper body language? Read on…
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Dress to Convince
What you're wearing will always have relevance in a video business meeting, so be sure to dress for success. Remember, people take seven seconds or even less to make judgments about your competence, confidence, warmth, and professional status. Make sure your grooming and wardrobe is going to send the right message.
Flash a Smile
Video meetings have now become an info-rich medium in which your brain will process the cascade of nonverbal signals. To impress who is on the other side of the screen, be sure to wear a genuine smile while explaining your points. Understand that genuine smiles have the power and potential to light the entire face, and it often determines how other people respond to you or your offers. Your video meetings will be a success if you learn to smile properly and let your facial expressions generate corresponding feelings.
Uncross Those Arms
Oh, yeah, others have said the same thing before, but you just feel more comfortable with your arms crossed. That's no excuse folks! You're not going to get anywhere with your arms crossed during a business video meeting because these meetings are a lot about nonverbal communication. You need to be more concerned about how your observer perceives your gestures and body language, not how you feel appropriate. Crossed arms are usually a sign of resistance, and others will subconsciously react to it. Learn to relax those arms to rock your video meetings!
Sit with Your Head Straight
Learn to keep your head straight and square your shoulders! This demonstrates assertiveness. You will always look tentative if you tilt your head, round your shoulders, or just hunch while making statements.
Keep Your Vocal Pitch under Control
Just like how you look, how you sound will also have an impact on your observer. The quality of your voice will always affect how successful your virtual business meeting is. People usually consider a speaker with higher-pitched voice less empathic, nervous, and less powerful, compared to a speaker with a relatively lower-pitched voice.
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Maintain Eye Contact
Speaking of nonverbal communication, something of huge importance is how you manage to maintain positive eye contact. What makes things tricky is that in video business meetings, you need to look straight into the camera to look straight into the eyes of a person sitting on the other side. Be sure to lower your monitor camera a bit to avoid tilting your head back to look up at it. You may think it's easy, but it's not because you will always feel like looking directly at someone's face on the screen. Only practice will help!
Learn to Relax
Don't rush through your presentation and try to keep your movements relaxed by using open arm gestures. When you keep your arms open and show the palms of your hands as it signals credibility and candor. At the same time, you need to avoid exaggerated hand movements or else it will look jerky on screen.
Do you have video business meetings in the course of your work? What tips can you share?
