There is a surprising amount of information out there about what happens in our brains when we watch ourselves do something. This could be as simple as seeing a video that we are in, or as dynamic as seeing our own face in the Zoom line up in our weekly BNI meetings. And what’s interesting about the studies out there is that, generally speaking, the news isn’t good.

There’s something in our wiring that leads us to be highly distracted by our own image, checking that we’re lined up in our screen, or that our tie is straight. So let’s take the time right now to learn how to stop watching ourselves when we’re in video meetings.

In Zoom, the key to this is right clicking on our own video and choosing the Hide Self View option from the dropdown menu. This wonderful action allows everyone else in the meeting to see our videos, but it won’t show our own video to ourselves.

Some of you reading this have already tried this, and continue not to use it because “I need to be able to see myself when I present”. This concept is a misnomer. Think of the times you’ve talked to your spouse, your kids, a client, etc and not watched yourself have that dialogue. For many of us, think back to our in-person BNI meetings when we presented to a room full of referral partners without having a mirror or video of ourselves running the entire time.

Take the time, starting today, to choose Hide Self View from now on in your Zoom meetings so that you can be more connected and attentive to your referral partners!

Where Did My Mind Just Go?

12 Seconds

That is the estimated average person’s attention span¹… 12 seconds. Shocking, isn’t it? This may not be hard to digest considering all of the distractions we face day-in and day-out. But in this new world of ours, which heavily relies on being in front of a computer screen, distractions have taken on a whole new reality.

For us avid networkers, we’ve all experienced this first hand. So today’s Zoom Networking Tip is here to help you reflect on, and get ahead of, your short attention span so that you can benefit greatly from being in video meetings.

We’ve all felt that temptation to check our inbox or carry on a side conversation during a dull moment in a meeting. And because it’s so easy to “Tab Over” to our inbox, or check our phone, we do it without thinking. However, because your networking efforts are all about building your reputation, it means that each time you ‘check out’, you might miss out on key information or an opportunity to get or receive a referral.

Each time you find yourself in a video meeting, it’s important to use attentive body language in front of your webcam, such as

• make sure to sit or stand up straight,
• don’t making big extraneous, distracting movements, or
• don’t let your eyes wander.

It’s important for your reputation, your business/organization, and your results that when you make a commitment to meet someone online, that you are mentally committed to staying in the meeting. And when you find it’s necessary to ‘step out of the video meeting’ to access a document, make sure not to succumb to that temptation unless it’s absolutely necessary. Also, be sure to communicate with your meeting partner(s) so that they don’t think you’re ignoring them.

We Can't Hear You!

I’m a professional opera singer, which means I’ve spent a lot of time and money learning how to be loud (opera singers don’t get microphones). I am rarely asked to speak up – if anything it’s the opposite. However, for all of the non-opera-singing people out there, you may not yet have had the opportunity to reflect on your voice and its impact on those around you.

In our virtual environment we are lucky enough to have a microphone, which means we are under the impression that the technology is speaking up for us. But have you asked one of your Zoom peers how your voice is coming across their speakers?

Here’s where we run into a snag. Many of us are guilty of using the microphones built into our webcams, cell phones, laptops, or computers, and while these technically do the trick, they can leave us sounding thin or distorted. Maybe no one has told you how you sound because the quality isn’t so poor that it’s distracting. With the advent of online networking, how we sound plays a vital role in how we come across – and first impressions are vitally important! Lucky for us, the marketplace for microphones is greatly affordable and varied!

So today’s Zoom Networking Tip is here to help you reflect on your voice and how you’re coming across. Take a moment to ask your peers how you sound week-by-week, and don’t hesitate to spend $20-$100 on a well-reviewed microphone so that you are putting your best foot forward in all of your virtual meeting opportunities!

We are Networkers!  We claim this title with pride because we’ve seen the good we can do and the power we have when we come together to network!

In the days of in-person networking, we knew the importance of making our names and businesses easily accessible, so we wore Name Badges.

However, in this world of video networking, many of us have lost sight of the importance of making our names and businesses easily accessible to all of our attendees, visitors included. This is where the Rename function in Zoom comes in handy!

Each of us has the ability to Rename ourselves in Zoom, yet not all of us take the step to utilize this feature. But how we choose to rename ourselves is also important. For example…

Vickie Wacek, Executive Director of BNI Vermont – Givers Gain

… is too long. I may think that I’m covering all of the bases, but the inability to quickly see who I am may result in attendees simply ignoring me. Meanwhile, the choice…

vickiewacek

… inadvertently tells everyone that I A) don’t know how to use Zoom, or B) don’t care enough about my visibility to make the effort to rename myself (aka, I’m lazy).

It’s amazing the things that people read into small actions like the choice to Rename or not Rename ourselves in Zoom.  So the next time you pop into Zoom, make sure to take 10 seconds to Rename yourself!  First + Last Name followed by your Business or Profession should be enough. Maybe even rename yourself based on the person or group you’re working with. For example:

Vickie Wacek | BNI Vermont (for networking events)
Vickie ♪ ♫ ♪ (for when I teach voice lessons)
Vickie | Your Referral Partner (for Profitability One to Ones)

How many Zoom/video calls have you been on in the last year?

If you’re a BNI member, you can proudly claim at least 50, and for many professionals that number is 5 to 10 times larger!  Video calls are now the place to be for networking and client meetings! 

Regardless of how much time we’ve spent in video calls, few of us have had any training focused on how to present professionally on the screen. This tip is rather simple to understand, and just takes a small shift to bring to fruition. It’s about addressing where in the screen you should place your head and shoulders.

Because the screen is our canvas, it means it’s up to us what we we should on that canvas for others to view. The goal isn’t to take up the entire screen, but it is to make sure that we are the focus in our screen. This means that we should make sure that our head, shoulders, and a good portion of our torso should be visible; that the top of our head is close to the top of the screen, and that our camera is far enough away that our face doesn’t take up the entire screen.

Making shifts like this has a drastic and important impact on the person(s) you are meeting with! When you are a neutral and professional video meeting user, the person(s) you’re meeting with trusts you more, pays more attention, and is generally more relaxed. So take your video meeting persona up a notch by addressing how you take up your screen!

Because many of us are working from home these days, we can tend to overlook our surroundings because we are normalized to them. Generally this isn’t an issue – we don’t have people coming over on a regular basis to inspect our cleanliness. Or do we?

With Zoom meetings being a regular part of our daily communications, our homes are now telling others a lot about us, just like our attire. So, are you busy attending virtual events, but accidentally showing off a pile of clothes, a confusing pile of books and paperwork, or a cluttered room?

This month’s Zoom networking tip is all about taking your virtual meetings up a notch by considering what your surroundings say about you. For example, I re-angled my camera in my home office to show off my book cases because I like what my hundreds of books say about me! And before each virtual meeting, I look around the room and straighten or move paperwork or even the dog’s bed to create a more streamlined background.

So turn around, right now. What do you see? Do you like what you see? What one small change could you make to take your surroundings up a notch? Maybe remove and item or two, or add a plant, or straighten that picture hanging on the wall. For some of you, you may have an environment that works for using a Virtual Background. Regardless, consider who you are and how you’d like the world to perceive you – then make a choice to say that through your surroundings!