Do you ever feel shy, unprepared, or less than confident when having to attend or speak during remote meetings? Even if you normally feel confident for in-person company meetings, having to adjust to a virtual setting can change your self-confidence levels and cause you to behave differently. Whether you try to prepare for each remote meeting by setting up a virtual office complete with a Microsoft teams virtual background or whether you prefer to jump right in with just a few notes handy, there are several ways you can rebuild your confidence to go into every remote meeting prepared and professional. Here are some important tips to keep in mind before your next virtual meeting.
Importance of Physical Cues
Your body language communicates your confidence levels, or lack thereof, to your coworkers, so you may want to spend some time reviewing key physical cues that can convey your self-assuredness. Certain stances or movements can make you appear insecure or unsure of yourself, even if you’re otherwise prepared for the meeting. To make yourself seem as confident as possible in remote meetings, make sure you:
- Sit up straight and avoid slumping or slouching
- Look directly into your camera
- Avoid fidgeting around
- Avoid nervous tics or other bad habits while on camera
- Project your voice
- Choose a professional teams virtual background that will help put you at ease
- Lean forward when speaking, hold your head high, and keep your chin up
Background To Be Proud Of
One simple way to build up your confidence for remote meetings and to ensure a professional appearance is creating both a physical home office and a virtual office space that communicate professionalism and preparedness. You may want to spend some time fixing up your home office as well as exploring different virtual tools to help make your remote meetings go by smoother. Prior to your next log-on, you may wish to:
- Clean your home office to remove clutter, make space for your notes and other meeting tools, and present a more professional image on camera
- Browse different zoom backgrounds mac to find one that appeals to you and that can help set the tone for your meetings
- Prep your office with essential meeting supplies, such as notepads, writing utensils, sticky notes, and so on, so you can be ready for whatever the meeting brings
- Use other virtual tools, such as background blurring, to help you adjust the online appearance of your office and to avoid your room’s appearance distracting others in the meeting
Even if you’re a well-seasoned professional, you may feel nervous, shaky, unprepared, and less than confident in remote meetings. Although you may not be able to control the format of every meeting, you can easily raise your self-confidence levels by taking key preparatory steps. Learn the right physical cues to give off, set up a background that gives your office a professional appearance, and prepare with different conferencing tools to ensure you appear cool, collected, and confident in your next virtual meeting.
