GrowMap

Map Your Path To Grow Your Business

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • G.A.S.P
  • Press
  • Portfolio
  • GrowMap Services
  • PostsComments

Guide to Getting Over Your Shyness about Video Conferencing

July 4, 2014 By Gail Gardner 8 Comments

Two women at a monitor

Do you dread going on camera for business video conferences?
Use these tips to feel prepared and confident.

With businesses increasing their productivity through using video conferencing, it is essential to learn to act professionally when you are on video – especially if you are being recorded. Here are some tips to increase your confidence.

Table of Contents

  • Be Prepared for Every Meeting
  • Conduct a Test Conference Call
  • Adjust Your Voice
  • Record Your Video Conference Calls
      • Gail Gardner
      • Latest posts by Gail Gardner (see all)

Be Prepared for Every Meeting

The more familiar you are with the topic, the less you’re going to worry about how you’ll appear on camera.  According to Northwestern University, your confidence in the subject will carry through in the way you speak and how you approach the answers.

Part of being prepared means having all of the information you’re going to need during the meeting close at hand. You should never dip out of the camera’s view – not even to reach for something. If you have prepared everything properly for the meeting, you shouldn’t have to do anything more than turn to reach for what you need.

As soon as you connect through a video conferencing company, you should be able to lay your hands on all your belongings without even looking. Try practicing reaching for the different materials before you connect so you will be ready to concentrate on the meeting.

Conduct a Test Conference Call

Before the meeting starts, test all of the equipment and software in advance. Even if you have software from a trustworthy company, like Blue Jeans, you still need to test everything to make sure the connections are correct and the lighting is good.

For a comprehensive test, have someone in your office get on the receiving end of a call. If there are no problems, give the meeting itself a dry run. Go over everything you want to cover in the meeting.

If at all possible, have the person in the same room with you while you’re conducting the test. This will allow you to see the person in reality as well as on your computer screen. By seeing the person you’re talking to in the same room as you, it can take away from the shyness you might have about talking into a camera.

As you get accustomed to the other person being there, you can talk directly into the camera more and more until you don’t feel the need to look at the other person at all. At this point, you’re ready to jump into your video conference call, according to Biz Tech Magazine.

Adjust Your Voice

The tendency for many people when they’re shy about speaking through video conference equipment is to speak either too soft or too loud. According to Inc. Magazine, you want to be heard, but at the same time, you don’t want to be offensive by shouting into the microphone.

This is something you’re going to have to work on to get the volume of your voice just right. In most cases, if you’re the only one on the call from your end, you should be able to simply speak at a normal tone. The powerful microphone on your computer will pick up your voice just fine.

If the people on the other end are having trouble hearing you, rather than raising your voice, simply lean in close to the microphone and ask if they can hear you better.

Record Your Video Conference Calls

If you still feel shy after your first video conference call, you should review a recording of what you look like. You can work on your position, appearance and how you present yourself.

The recording is intended to help you to get better at video conferencing, so don’t use it as a way to convince yourself that you’re a failure.Look for noticeable problems in how you’re conducting yourself in your video conference and make a concerted effort to make the change.

With a little work, you’re going to be great at video conferencing. You may even notice at some point you will be so focused on your presentation that you will forget about how you look on video.

Once you focus on presenting yourself and your materials correctly, you will forget altogether about your shyness about video conferencing. This will help you to be a seamless part of the new digital workspace.

The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Google+ profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Pinterest profileMy Tumblr blogMy YouTube channel

Gail Gardner

Small Business Marketing Strategist at GrowMap
Gail Gardner is the founder of GrowMap.com. She is a Small Business Marketing Strategist who mentors small businesses, bloggers, and freelancers. After 23 years in the field with IBM and 5.5 years managing AdWords accounts, her focus shifted to small business marketing strategy. GrowMap.com is listed by Cision as a Top 100 Site for Marketers and has received three Small Business Influencer Awards from Small Business Trends. Named by D&B a Top 50 SMB Influencer on Twitter, you can follow Gail @GrowMap and on LinkedIn.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Google+ profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Pinterest profileMy Tumblr blogMy YouTube channel

Latest posts by Gail Gardner (see all)

  • Regular Live Online Small Business Events Tues and Wed - April 11, 2021
  • Small Business Websites: How to Make Yours More Compelling [Infographic + Video] - April 8, 2021
  • Career Choices: How to Find Work in the Remote Economy [Infographics] - March 15, 2021
Tweet56
Share
Share3
Pin1
Share
Share
Pocket
Flip
60 Shares
« How to Create Your Own Small Business Empire by Leveraging Your Contacts
Highlights from Creating a Content Strategy for Your Blog @JoePulizzi »

Filed Under: Small Business Advice Tagged With: video conferencing

Comments

  1. Lee Meek says

    July 28, 2014 at 2:15 pm

    I have started arranging skype meetings with my wedding photography. One couple in particular is from Australia and getting married in the UK where I am based. Your article is very helpful.

    Reply
  2. Candice says

    July 7, 2014 at 4:56 pm

    I love the idea of recording yourself! Yeah, it’ll be a little painful to watch, but in the end you’ll learn so much about what not to do the next time you need to be on camera.

    Reply
    • Gail Gardner says

      July 7, 2014 at 5:17 pm

      Hi Candice,

      Most of us have no idea how we come across verbally or visually until we record ourselves or someone else does it. Anyone who wants to hear themselves can use the free version of Screencast-o-matic. If they want to see themselves and they have a video camera in one of their devices they can get someone to do a Google Hangout with them.
      Gail Gardner would love you to read ..Highlights from Creating a Content Strategy for Your Blog @JoePulizziMy Profile

      Reply
  3. waseem akram says

    July 7, 2014 at 7:35 pm

    Good for usage of the daily routine.There are many usage of the voice recorder so this provide us a great tips for better our voice thank to owner and staff of this site.

    Reply
  4. selva says

    July 7, 2014 at 10:29 am

    Hi,
    This blog is simply amazing that provides how to improves video conferencing shyness and how to over come from these problem and they will be declarative with no issues with clients while video conferencing.

    Thanking you

    Reply
  5. Pritam Nagrale says

    July 5, 2014 at 9:15 am

    Hi There,Very Informative Post. It will really helpful for conference people. Your points are really nice and helpful for bloggers.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts
You can add a link to follow you on twitter if you put your username in this box.
Only needs to be added once (unless you change your username). No http or @

Search

UPC CODES don't fall for fakes

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Getting Paid to Write – It’s More Than Just Writing
  • How a Small Business Can Compete with a Major Brand Selling Similar Products [Infographic]
  • Regular Live Online Small Business Events Tues and Wed
  • Small Business Websites: How to Make Yours More Compelling [Infographic + Video]
  • Minimizing Your Vulnerability to Online Security Risks [Infographic]
Don't Miss Your Path to Growth!
Enter your email to receive new
blog posts:

Did MOZ Drop Your Site’s DA?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv_cL50MpZA

Popular Posts

Small Business Websites: How to Make Yours More Compelling [Infographic + Video]Small Business Websites: How to Make Yours More Compelling [Infographic + Video]
Minimizing Your Vulnerability to Online Security Risks [Infographic]Minimizing Your Vulnerability to Online Security Risks [Infographic]
Getting Paid to Write – It’s More Than Just WritingGetting Paid to Write – It’s More Than Just Writing
Career Choices: How to Find Work in the Remote Economy [Infographics]Career Choices: How to Find Work in the Remote Economy [Infographics]
5 Best Inventory Control Techniques to Improve Your Bottom Line [Infographic]5 Best Inventory Control Techniques to Improve Your Bottom Line [Infographic]
How a Small Business Can Compete with a Major Brand Selling Similar Products [Infographic]How a Small Business Can Compete with a Major Brand Selling Similar Products [Infographic]
How to Use Local SEO to Boost Your Real ‎Estate BusinessHow to Use Local SEO to Boost Your Real ‎Estate Business
How to Use Martech to Ace Your Influencer Marketing CampaignsHow to Use Martech to Ace Your Influencer Marketing Campaigns
10 Motivational Podcasts for the Modern Salesperson10 Motivational Podcasts for the Modern Salesperson
Regular Live Online Small Business Events Tues and WedRegular Live Online Small Business Events Tues and Wed

Greatest eCommerce Competitive Risks to Small Businesses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=bmlJmDYaax0

Serpstat: What it Does

https://youtu.be/rjIfKdIWk7M

GrowMap Policies

  • Disclosure Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • GrowMap Guest Blogging Guidelines

Connect With Growmap

growmap on twitter growmap on g plus growmap on linkedin growmap on pinterest growmap on facebook growmap on stumbleupon growmap on skype

Copyright © 2008-2021 Growmap · Centric Mobile Responsive Theme by StudioPress · Genesis Framework · Site maintaned By MarketingTilt

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

GrowMap
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

You can adjust all of your cookie settings by navigating the tabs on the left hand side. Read our complete privacy policy.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.