10 top tips for successful video conferencing. Avoid the video conferencing pitfalls. Ensure you always look professional. Approach a video meeting the same as a meeting in a physical meeting room.

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10 Top Tips for successful
Desktop Video Conferencing
Written by: Steve Roberts
Managing Director
Cirrcom Limited
steve@cirrcom.com

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1. OptimizeBandwidth
The Number 1 video conferencing killer is insufficient bandwidth. No matter how well everything
the other 9 tips have been prepared, the lack of good connectivity will destroy the whole
experience for everybody. Bandwidth problems result in video conferencing images skipping and
freezing. Be sure to enhance bandwidth to the computers you plan to use for desktop video
conference. It is worth spending the time to test your connectivity ahead of the video conference
and to experiment with sharing content.

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2. Reduce the processing burden on your desktop
Again, to avoid destroying the desktop video conference experience and to increase its success, it
is highly recommended to reduce the processing burden of the desktop you intend to use for the
video meeting. Video conferencing is extremely CPU and memory intensive. Don't do any
processing, downloading, on your desktop while you're on a video conference, and close all
unnecessary applications to improve memory resources.

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3. Have the right communication hardware
Cameras: It sound obvious but for the best image quality, use a top-notch camera. A minimum of
HD 720p is recommended and don't forget to keep the camera lens clean. People often complain
about a grainy picture without actually realising that it is often as a result of a dirty camera lens. If
you use more than one monitor, ensure that the video conference is being displayed on the same
monitor as the camera. This will avoid it looking like you’re talking to somebody else or working on
something else during the meeting!
Microphones: For best results with mobile devices is to use a Bluetooth microphone, a wired
headset, or a clip-on microphone that has noise-cancelling features and a wide pickup frequency
range. Make sure the wireless headset is fully charged before the meeting. Mute your microphone
when it's in listening mode, and conduct video conferences from quiet, indoor meeting spaces.

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4. Lighting
You wouldn’t conduct a physical business meeting in a dark room so why do it by video. Good
lighting is critical for high-quality images. Experiment with lighting by moving it around your room.
Avoid having direct sunlight or a lamp on your face or behind you.

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5. Check your background
Walls, furniture, and desktop items appear very clearly on desktop videoconferences. For best
results, use a plain, light-coloured background with your company logo visible. Avoid “video-
noise”, i.e. a lot of background movement, e.g. a window in the background showing cars and
people moving outside. Make sure your background is clean and appealing. Avoid reflective glass
being behind you.

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6. Dress to impress
Avoid wearing stripy complex designs that cameras cannot pick up effectively. It is advised to wear
clothing that you would normally wear for an in-person meeting. Colours like royal blue, burgundy,
purple, black and grey generally contrast well with a light-coloured background. Do not wear the
same colour shirt or blouse as the background wall. It’s video, people want to see you!

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7. Eliminate background noise or echoes
If you hear background noise, echoes, or feedback, mute your microphone to see if it corrects the
problem. If not, ask others to do the same until the problem is corrected. Remove nearby
electronic devices, especially phones or other wireless devices.

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8. Speak to the camera – show eye contact
Most video conference participants speak to the person on the screen, however due to the typical
location of the camera (on top of the screen) it always appears there is no eye contact between
the participants. You can come across exceptionally well in a video conference once you avoid
talking to the screen and you speak instead directly to the camera. Remember this is very
noticeable when incoming video is projected on a large TV monitor, but outgoing video is captured
via the desktop in front of you.
If using a desktop or a tablet with a stand, try to minimise the upward direction of the camera. The
last thing people want to see is up your nose!

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9. Be conscious of your body mannerisms
Video conference is not like an audio/tele conference, as you might feel like nobody is in the room,
but someone is always watching. Pay attention to what you do - don't clean your ears, pick a
pimple on your face or nose and certainly do not yawn. Like in a physical meeting if you need to
sneeze or cough, turn to the side and sneeze. If you get a chance, mute your audio before you
deafen all the other participants wearing headset!

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10. Practice, practice, practice
Beforehand, ensure you’ve learnt how to use the desktop video conferencing system you’ve
chosen to use and to practice well ahead of time. If you’ve chosen to use a Desktop Client
Application or a web browser plugin app/client, then be sure you’ve downloaded and tested the
software. If you’re using a web browser that requires no plugin (WebRTC – Google Chrome,
Mozilla Firefox or Opera) then make sure the browser is up to date and especially works if you
intend to share content. The more you know about the video conferencing you’re using, the better
you will look.

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