Now that the world has moved to video conferencing whether it is Zoom, Google Hangouts, Skype, Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting or any other service, there are several things you can do prior to the meeting to make sure it is as successful as it can be.
- Keep your software up to date to remove the chances of compatibility issues between you and the host.
- Confirm that your audio and video systems are working correctly prior to the meeting, many of the applications have a test feature you can use.
- Have a trial run to test any of the features you may wish to use during your meeting (breakout rooms, screen sharing, polls, etc.).
- Test the quality of your microphone and webcam, many of the included webcam and microphones that come with a system are of poor quality and may be distracting to participants—perhaps consider purchasing higher quality hardware.
- Disable any VPNs you may have active, this may slow down your connection to the server and reduce the quality of your meeting.
- Ask others in your household to be considerate with your connection’s bandwidth while you’re in the meeting.
- Ensure you are dressed appropriately for the call.
- While in the meeting, be sure you mute yourself when not talking to minimise background noise.