Videoconferencing Meeting Tips

Videoconferencing is a good medium to use in organized meetings where one person speaks for an extended period of time, and then questions are asked. Round table discussions are a little less natural over videoconferencing with large groups, but can still be done effectively if participants practice patience and proper videoconferencing etiquette.

1) Be prepared.

Meeting over videoconferencing can be intimidating at first. Become familiar with the equipment you are using, how to switch video sources and how to use presets. Being prepared can also include sending any handouts in advance to the remote site so they can participate accordingly.

2) Be aware of the camera.

Be aware of what the camera is showing. For example, if you like to pace when you speak, make sure you don't pace off screen. If you were showing a PowerPoint in class but are now done discussing it, change the video source to yourself or the person speaking.

3) Be aware of the microphone.

Different rooms will have different microphones at different locations. If you can't be heard by people in the local room, you won't be heard by the microphone. If you can't see the microphone, it will be more difficult for students on the far end to hear. Don't shuffle and ruffle papers next to the microphone. It gets amplified on the far end.

4) Don't use the chalkboard/whiteboard; instead, use a document camera.

You may prefer to write notes on a white board in the front of the room; however, it may be very difficult for others at the remote site to see. Instead, use a document camera with a nice sized marker (no pens or pencils). If the participants in the local room can't see the document camera image, the participants at the remote site won't be able to see the image either. Remember aspect ratio differences!!! A document camera will show a standard TV aspect ratio of 3x4. A piece of paper is 8.5x11.

5) Be careful when showing video clips from VCR and DVDs.

Videos with lots of motion (which includes any movie that uses panning, not just action movies), will have reduced quality over videoconferencing. Try viewing the video yourself over the videoconferencing equipment to see if it is acceptable. For longer videos, send a copy to the far end beforehand so it can be played locally in all rooms.

7) Set the standard for proper videoconferencing etiquette.

Videoconferencing etiquette is not all that different from common sense etiquette we practice everyday; however, not many people have everyday experience with videoconferencing. Sometimes participants forget they can be seen. If participants are noisy on the far end, ask them to be quiet. If a door is open to a hallway, close it or ask that it be closed. Cell phones should be turned off or set to silent, just like any normal meeting.

If you are in a multi-point call (three or more sites), request that participants introduce themselves by stating their name and their location before speaking. For example "Hello, this is John from the Arlington campus. Can you please explain that formula again?"

8) When using a PC, the lower the resolution the better.

OK, this one is counterintuitive. What is easier to see from twenty feet away, a high resolution life size picture of an ant or a low resolution life size picture of an elephant? When a Windows operating system uses a higher resolution, it also scales all the fonts to a smaller size. It might be okay when you are sitting right next to the monitor, but it becomes difficult to see from a distance.

Another important question is what is the far end using to view your image? A VGA monitor or a regular TV monitor? A PC image always gets scaled and stretched when sent to a TV. The closest PC resolution to a standard TV (704x480) monitor is VGA (640x480), not XGA (1024x768).

9) Be aware of the effect of turning down the lights.

Be careful not to turn down the lights too much. Front screen projectors do their best when the lights are turned down; however, cameras do their best with the most amount of light.