Videoconferencing, like television, relies strongly on both visual and audio elements for communication. Unlike television, videoconferencing is highly interactive, which means that both the senders and receivers will want to follow a few basic suggestions to help make their videoconference a success.
Visual
What to Wear
Wear plain fabrics of muted colours. Avoid clothing that has bright colours and busy patterns.
Movement
It is important that motion be minimized since movement is compressed and decompressed in videoconferencing.
Material
Produce visual material ahead of time. Material produced ad hoc may not be easily seen or understood.
Key Design Elements for Visuals
- Use larger than normal san serif font size (e.g., minimum 18 point Helvetica)
- Print horizontally on the page
- Keep the design simple
- Limit the amount of words on each page
- Choose colours with high contrast when using electronic presentations
- Arrange paper visual aids on a blue pastel background to increase impact
Audio
Clearly enunciate and speak slower than the normal rate of speech. Auditory dynamics such as pitch, tone, volume, pausing, and pacing are crucial. Some additional tips are as follows:
- Address people by name
- Acknowledge individual comments and ideas
- Ask people to say their name before speaking, if there are more than three participants
- Ask participants to raise their hand if they wish to speak
- Limit verbal interruption (e.g., uh huh)
- Provide non-verbal feedback by nodding or shaking your head
General Tips
- Chat at the beginning and end of the session to build and maintain rapport.
- Use cartoons and quips on the document camera, in the preliminary stages, while connectivity is established. Humour is effective in establishing a warm receptive environment and helps reduce anxiety.
- Give participants time to think as well as position themselves to use the technology.
- Limit one person speaking to a maximum of 10 minutes, unless the situation dictates otherwise (e.g., thesis examination). This helps to avoid the "talking head" syndrome.
- Mute the microphone on the audience end if your videoconference session is primarily a presentation or lecture. This minimizes interruption such as coughing, sneezing and paper shuffling.
For more information, pricing and reservations, please email Classroom Technical Support or phone us at 519-824-4120 ext. 52778.