Video conferencing is a great option that has recently been made more popular with the advent of software. When you use video conferencing, you can incorporate many different members of your company without having to be in the same location. Video conferencing is absolutely a serious business tool, and it shouldn’t be taken with a grain of salt. Here are seven ways to ensure your video conferencing goes well.

#7: Send Out Memo with Requirements Ahead of Time

You need to let the participants in your conference know about the requirements of the conference ahead of time. This means that you should send out a mass email, which will not be sent to the spam folder. You need to write in this email what participants are required to wear, how they are required to groom themselves, and what technology they are required to have in order to be able to take part in the video conference. Video conferencing will often involve downloading new applications for video conferencing if the participants have not already participated in a video conference with you.

You also need to make sure that everybody is dressed well and groom their hair in a presentable way. The main idea that you need to get across in your email is that people need to present themselves for the video conference just as they would for actually coming into work.

#6: Make Room for Expressions

You need to take the lead in the video conference. You should make sure that you have an outline ahead of time for what points will be covered in the video conference. You need to make sure that there is time for questions. Ask at the beginning of the conference that people raise their hands when they have a question; you will be able to see them raising their hands on the screen so that you can allow them to ask.

This is a vital part of video conferencing so that people don’t check out from the conversation and stay engaged. They need to stay engaged even though they are not in the same room as the people they’re conferencing with.

#5: Make an Outline

You should outline ahead of time so that there is a sufficient amount of structure for the meeting. You should let the participants in the meeting know that you have outlined a series of talking points that will each be addressed in the meeting. The video conferencing solutions you use should help you tell people the main ideas that will be addressed at the beginning of the meeting, just like you would in introducing an essay. Your outline should be structured in order of importance.

The most important point should be touched upon first, and the least important should be at the end of the conversation. You should follow your outline to a tee to offer the participants a sense of structure that they would otherwise gain from being in the room with the other participants. You will find this to be very beneficial.

#4: Use Visual Tools

You should use visual tools to keep the attention of your participants. This means that you should have graphs, charts and a large notepad to write statistics on. You should put your graphs or charts up to the screen so that your participants can see them. You should have a notepad where you write down key statistics in a red or orange marker. You can use actual visual tools in order to get your point across.

#3: Ask Participants to Take Notes

You should ask that all participants in the video conference take notes. They need to have a notepad or pieces of paper on hand before they start the conference. This is something that you should address in your mass email. They need to take careful notes so that they remember everything you told them.

#2: Use Bright Colors

You should use bright colours to write down key points for the participants. When you write down key points on a piece of paper to hold up to the screen, they should be in neon colours, and they should be highlighted. This is a way for your participants to memorize important points and make sure they understand the relevance.

#1: Debrief

Always debrief about 5 minutes before the video conference is scheduled to conclude. You need to make time to ask your participants if they have any questions, and there needs to be enough time to have their questions answered thoroughly. You also want to take the time to conclude the presentation so that the participants remember what you said.