Tips on How to Prepare for Your E-meeting! 

In order for your e-meeting to be as good as possible, keep this in mind:  
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Set up Your Virtual Office – Connectivity, Picture, Lighting and Sound  

• Choose the best internet connection you have access to, and if possible, use an Ethernet cable. If you have poor connectivity during an ongoing meeting, turn off your camera.
• Place your camera so that it is slightly above eye level and straight in front of you, i.e. mount it above your screen. If you are using a laptop, place the laptop on top of something steady so that the camera is raised to eye level. 
• Sit close enough so that you are clearly visible and place the camera (or tilt your screen) so that your eyes are slightly above the middle of the frame. 
• Make sure that you have more light in front of you than behind you. Avoid having bright light behind you since this makes it difficult for the meeting participants to see your face (you will appear like a dark silhouette). Having several light sources is good, but not necessary. 
• Daylight or light from a bulb is preferable. Please avoid fluorescent lamps as they will appear to flicker in the picture.  
• Use a headset if you can, preferably one that connects by wire to your computer. The sound quality is the most important part of your setup, and your voice will sound clearer when you use a headset with a microphone. By using a headset, you also avoid getting acoustic feedback, which can occur if you are using the computer’s built-in microphone and speakers. If you do not have a headset, you can always use your mobile phone’s headset – which is better than using no headset. There are also speakers (such as Jabra Speak) that block echoes and distortions, and these are especially recommended if you are more than one attendee in a room connecting to an e-meeting.  
• If the meeting contains more than 2 or 3 participants, mute your microphone when you are not speaking. The same goes if you for instance need to cough or tell someone knocking on your door that you are busy. You can also turn off your camera when not talking if your connection is unstable. 
• Try to avoid disturbing background noises such as dragging chairs, tapping pens, crumpling paper or loud fans from computers or projectors. 
• If possible, choose an echo free room. Carpets on the floor and curtains in windows are known for improving the acoustic, and the same applies for fully packed bookcases and stacks of paper.
• Choose a calm background. Disorganized backgrounds steal the attention of the participants. Movements in the background take up more bandwidth, due to new information needing to be transmitted continuously. For instance, when trees outside your window are moving in the wind or people are walking by, this reduces the quality of your sound and video.  
• Try to avoid striped or finely checked clothes, as these creates moiré patterns in the video stream.   

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Participate Actively   

• Start or connect to the meeting on time, and preferably a few minutes before, in order to ensure that you have good connectivity. 
• When you speak, try to look straight at the camera rather than your computer screen. By looking directly at the camera, you will appear more present, and the participants will feel more engaged.
• Use your body language, such as raising your hand when you want to speak or giving thumbs up when someone says something wise. 
• Consider posting your questions and comments in the chat. 
• Use ”Share Screen” to show PowerPoint slides for instance. 
• Use the function "Poll" to find out what the participants think about a specific question or to evaluate the meeting.
• As the host of the meeting, you can create participation and engagement by allowing each participant to contribute by commenting or deliberating on a certain topic. It is nice to switch the order in which the participants get to speak from time to time. 

Do not forget to take a break! If your meeting is set to be longer than 45 minutes, decide in the beginning of the meeting when you plan to have a break. Make sure that the break is not too short – the participants need to have time to do the things they normally would, i.e. get some coffee or visiting the bathroom.

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