The Zoom platform has grown in popularity over the last few years and for good reason. It provides individuals and businesses the tools that they need to conduct meetings over the Internet for collaboration, lead generation and customer acquisition, webinars and more.
If you want to use Zoom to grow your business, and you should, then it is essential that all of your Zoom meetings and webinars are engaging for your audiences. A lot of people get this wrong and end up losing their audience on Zoom calls.
The methods, tips and tricks in this powerful guide will show you how you can significantly improve your engagement levels when you are using Zoom. So be sure to read all of this short report and put these ideas into action.
#1 Prepare Your Zoom Events
This is where it all starts. The best Zoom events are always planned. Just turning up and “winging it” is not a good idea. You need to think about what you want to achieve from your Zoom event first. Do you want a higher level of commitment from your team? Do you want to sell potential customers on your latest product offering?
Your preparation for the Zoom event will go a lot more smoothly the more you understand your audience. If you are going to use the event to pitch your offer to potential customers then understand what problems they have and how your offer will solve these problems for them.
If you want to use your Zoom event to provide details of a new project to your team then think about the issues that they are likely to have and any roadblocks that they might identify. The more that you predict these things beforehand the better your Zoom event will go.
Have all of your resources setup before the event. If you are going to share your screen and use websites and applications for demonstrations then have all of these open before the meeting. Your audience won’t want to see websites and applications loading up.
If you intend to share files then have these ready too in one place so that you can easily access them during the meeting. Nobody wants to see you fumbling around trying to find the relevant files on your computer.
When you are preparing slides for your Zoom event always think about interaction. Nobody wants to sit through a one hour Zoom event just listening to you reading from slides. Test for understanding and allow your audience to answer questions. Use examples and case studies to demonstrate concepts.
#2 Run A Test Session
If you have not used Zoom before or not used it that much then we recommend that you setup and run a test event before you go for the real meeting. You may think that you are a great presenter and host but there is nothing like a recording of your performance to provide you with a reality check.
The other advantage of running test sessions is that you can familiarize yourself with the Zoom features and controls. Practice sharing your screen, using the whiteboard facility, using the annotation tools, adding a virtual background and so on. If you don’t do this it is unlikely to be alright during the live event.
#3 Use High Quality Equipment
You will impress nobody if you have a poor quality webcam or microphone. If you are appearing grainy and blurry on video then your audience is going to switch off. The same goes for poor quality audio. If it is not clear what you are saying then you are going to lose people.
A lot of laptops have inferior built in webcams and microphones. As tempting as it may be to use these to save money, just don’t do it. You can get a high quality webcam for less than $100 and a good USB microphone for even less.
Then there is the subject of lighting. You need to ensure that your face is lit from the front. If you look like a shadow of yourself on camera then this will put a lot of people off. You can get fairly inexpensive ring lights from Amazon and elsewhere that will enhance your lighting.
Finally on the subject of equipment, use the fastest Internet connection that you can. If you have to contend with fairly low Internet bandwidth where you are then use an Ethernet connection rather than WiFi. There are losses associated with wireless connections that you don’t get with a wired connection.
#4 Get Your Camera Position Right
This is a mistake that a lot of Zoom newbies make. They do not position the webcam or camera correctly and as a result they end up looking down or up into the camera. Neither of these provides a flattering look for you. Your audience does not want to see just the top of your head either.
The best camera position is where you look straight forward into it. So test this out to find the best position. You want your head to be in the top third of the screen. Avoid anything below this as you will be showing too much of the background.
#5 Look Directly Into The Camera
Here is another classic mistake that newcomers to Zoom make. Instead of looking directly into the camera they look at their computer screen. If you do this then your head will be down and it will appear like you do not want to face your audience.
You have to see beyond your computer and camera here. Always bear in mind that when you look directly into the camera your audience will see you in the best light. You will appear to be focusing on them which they will really appreciate. Again practice this until you can do it automatically.
Sometimes you will need to glance at your screen or your notes. This is OK, but make it a very short glance and then get straight back to looking into the camera. Even the best presenters need to look away from their audiences for short periods of time. Just don’t have prolonged periods where you are not looking directly at the camera.