You can light up your Zoom calls with just a few tweaks says Julian Mather. You wouldn’t send an email with typos and grammatical errors. You wouldn’t hand over a dog-eared report to your executive. Why then do so many think it’s acceptable to amateurishly present themselves on Zoom calls?
The Zoom honeymoon is over. Time to lift our video/virtual game. It’s nowhere as hard or expensive as you may think to start shining brighter in the zoom gloom.
Light Up Your Audience
‘Listen carefully. I’m going to give you the code to the safe where the million dollars is kept…’
Content is king. I can tell you that after four decades of videoing all sorts of people – from prince to pauper – that the more interesting what-you-say is, the less others care how-you-look when you say it.
“Be Brief, Be Sincere, Be Seated”
This sage advice on making compelling speeches came from Former US President Theodore Roosevelt. In otherwords, say what you have to say, say it with feeling and get off the stage. This should be Zoom’s new tagline. We all know how painful Death by Zoom is. Five minutes preparation before a virtual meeting, on what you want to contribute and thinking of ways to be more concise, will do your presentation wonders.
1. Do they need to hear the details right now? Would ‘I emailed you the details separately’ be music to the ears of all on the call?
2. Use proverbs. Proverbs can sum up a lengthy situation into a few words. Everybody gets them. That’s why they survive for centuries – everyone loves them. Watch them jot them down in their notes. People are slow to adopt new software. Nobody likes the pain of mistakes. You could bore them to tears with the tech details or you could say ‘Come on guys, you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs,’ Showing others you respect their time makes you shine brighter.
Light Up Your Face
Your face is your most powerful communication tool. Let’s get you out of the shadows. You can’t expect others to connect with what you say if they can’t connect with you.
1. Face a window. Most times just doing this can wrap you in a nice soft light.
2. Shine a light in your eyes. Place it behind your webcam right above the camera. If it’s bright to look at then it’s fair chance it’s making you look better. Ask any TV presenter.
3. Use your computer screen. Open up a blank document. Zoom into 200% and expand to fill the screen. Tap up your screen brightness. You’ll be amazed how good you can look.
4. Smile. “Smiling is infectious, you catch it like the flu, someone smiled at me today and I started smiling too.” (Dr Suess). Smiling is the most powerful light of all and the one we all forget to do.
Keep your wallet closed and your willingness to experiment open and you’ll on your way to unleashing your inner movie star.
Learn more… Julian will be presenting at the Brisbane Executive PA Summit at the Emporium Hotel South Bank on the 8th September, where he will show executive assistants how to set up spaces in their offices & homes for effective Zoom meetings and presentations
The Smartphone Video (R)evolution Video done differently
You can’t win the new game playing by the old rules. Julian shows you clever ways to use your smartphone to build trust, amplify your message, simplify your life. BONUS** you’ll also be able to make awesome kids and family videos! Smartphone video training
