Who’s Zooming Who?
Not a day goes by that we are not exposed to a video conference call, but being asked to do a video call for television news? That is not a walk in the park.
How has it been for you?
In the past couple of weeks the broadcast media, principally television, has been using a variety of digital applications to great avail. To be honest, some interviews are making great telly but the others are simply yuk.
The broadcaster will think from here in – ‘’why incur the expenditure of arranging to have a guest taken into a studio when you can access a guest from the cosy setting of their very own front room?’’
However a word to the wise – be careful.
Thanks to discount electrical retailers telly viewers can now buy enormous televisions the size of small countries to stick on a small wall at home. Consider the impact a TV of this size will have on a one bed room flat.
The massive sized telly is great to watch the latest chilling instalment from Netflix or the latest Marvel blockbuster, but not ideal for viewing a business leader or medical professional being interviewed from the cosy confines of their front room.
To the viewer, is this the return of a video nasty?
Here are some helpful suggestions to teleconference or be interviewed for TV.
Regardless of process, be mindful of your appearance.
Dress as you would for business meetings. If you are the business leader, set the tone and set the time, so be on time and be focused in terms of presentation and delivery.
Be careful about the setting and background for the video conference call.
The participant on the call can see everything in the background to where you are conducting the call, be it inside, outside, in the gym, by your indoor pool, etc. Please avoid the luxury of placing a false background of a New York skyline or the Africa planes as a background. This looks and is very silly.
Be mindful of time of the call and be prepared. Prepare yourself 15 minutes before the call and as a business leader make sure you share the responsibility of tasks even as there may be imbalances with people on the call, with participants wondering why one has been tasked with high responsibly and others have been ignored with little or nothing to do.
Finally, a note to the male reader of this blog – be mindful of personal grooming. Yes personal grooming. Some video calls work best with a remote camera rather than a built-in camera on a laptop or iPad. Be mindful of the angle of the camera as some cameras can be less than flattering with the camera posed up someone’s nose. The image flashed to everyone on the call can be most unpleasant.
Get used to the technology of video conferencing as its here to stay and embrace what looks good and professional to your business.
Most of all enjoy the journey post-COVID.
