Personality is exaggerated over videoconferencing. If you are fidgety and distracted it will be more obvious. If you are quiet and hesitant to speak you will not get a word in. Especially if you are presenting, that extra spark of personality will make a difference in keeping your audience interested. Involving the participants at the distant site(s) will be critical to their satisfaction with the program.

Take a moment to get the presets correct. You may need to talk your receiver site through this process so that everyone is comfortable.

Introduce yourself and get the names of the others. Write them down or have them make large name tags to sit on the table in front of them. On a multi-point call, be sure to clearly identify who is where so that you can refer to each other and addres s questions to each site.

DO RESPECT THE DELAY! There is a moment of total awkwardness when you have asked a question or told a joke and no one at the other site responds at all. You get that overwhelming feeling that you have just said someth ing very stupid. No. It is the delay. During the time that you are feeling ridiculous they are waiting to get the signal. Take a deep breath and they will be laughing away or jumping to answer your question. You need to be aware of this pause. Over time you will get used to it.

Clothing
Conservative dress seems to wear well for presenters in the virtual classroom. A simple rule is to wear solids, not prints or plaids. Blue and green have the least distortion over video transmissions. These should be more on the lighter side rather than d arker colors. Because the video camera is white sensitive, avoid wearing white, or even using documents printed on white. This is sometimes a problem for men who are presenting while wearing the customary white shirt and tie. It is suggested that men wear off white, cream, blue, or pastel colored shirts. They should avoid ties that are too dark, too bright, or with busy designs. Ladies should follow the same dress codes that call for solid colors, conservative jewelry, and avoid bright print accessories. Make up is preferred since often the flesh tones get muted during video presentations.

Be certain that you look at the person you are talking to. The cameras are set so that by looking at the monitor displaying the other site your face will appear to be looking right at them rather than at an angle.

Commonly Made Mistakes

Whispering to your neighbor when the microphone is right behind you.
Tapping a pencil near the microphone.
Not looking at the camera.
Using a font too small on your documents. 18 points or better is good.
Not introducing yourself or identifying the other participants.

Speaking before you have given the other participants time to respond. (One way around this is to exaggerate the questions that you ask and the transition needed to give others time to respond.)

A lot of it is just practice. The more time you spend using the equipment the more comfortable you will become. I recommend some informal work sessions before you do an actual presentation. Presentations can be given to large groups so don't rule that out. It is the same as giving a presentation to a large group in person; it is harder to interact.

vtcinfo@cord.org

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