ZOOM Meeting Tips: What to do and what not to do!

Are you on Zoom?

Skype?

Google... meet?

Microsoft Teams?

Do you have to do video conferencing with your boss or other people at your work?

My job is I teach you English privately with video lessons.

So you can find me on Skype or on Zoom and I'll teach you some English and we'll have

a great time.

And do you know what?

Do whatever you want.

Have fun, have a beer, have a wine, have a drink.

www.englishwithronnie.com is how you're going to find me for some video lessons - private.

But taking lessons with me is going to be very different than taking lessons with or

taking - sorry, having a meeting with your boss.

So, there's going to be some things that you shouldn't really do, some things that you

should be careful of, and this is important for you to keep your job.

Maybe have a job interview - yeah, wear pants, okay?

I know that they can't see that you're not wearing pants, but what if you stand up suddenly

and woo, hello!

Yeah.

Lose the job, so video conferencing etiquette, rules, manners.

This is what happens in the real world, behind the camera.

So, check it out.

As I mentioned, clothes, okay?

So, maybe you used to work in an office.

You had to wear some beautiful clothes, take a shower - please take a shower still.

And you know, you had to look presentable.

Look nice, wear a shirt, iron it.

Now, you're at home.

You've got pajamas.

They're the most comfortable things ever - yeah, you shouldn't wear them.

Unless they're pretty fly looking, which means wonderful or great working.

But the striped ones, nah.

Maybe you sleep naked, so again, please don't wear your pajamas in a conference call.

Even if you put on just a nice shirt, you're going to look better.

Hey, you can wear shorts, that's fine.

But wear pants, yeah.

And no pajamas.

So, clothes.

Put them on, wear them.

Try and look nice, at least from the top down, because basically when you are having a conference,

people can only see - depends how you have your camera - the top of your head or a bit

lower.

So, hey.

Wear a nice shirt.

Oh, you could just get a - no, wear a nice shirt.

Next one.

Your background, okay.

So now, everyone that you work with, your boss, potential bosses, potential clients,

potential customers, can see your house, your apartment, where you live.

Oh wow.

Clean it, okay?

Make it look nice.

Just one space, just move all the crap off the table and make sure it looks good, because

humans are judgmental.

They're going to go, "Oh my God, Ronnie has a beer can in the background!"

Yeah, because I'm a human and I drink beer, but please, when it's for an important job

interview or a meeting, just clear the stuff away.

I know that Zoom has different backgrounds.

You can look like you're in space or in a field.

That's pretty distracting, I think, but it's up to you.

Choose a nice background.

The thing I like about Skype is that you can blur the background.

So, maybe my beer can looks like a Coca-Cola can and that's acceptable now.

I like the blur feature, so - I mean, you can still tell what it looks like in the background,

but it kind of hides it.

So hey, do something fun, just clean your house, okay?

It'll be good for you; it'll look nice on your Zoom meeting.

Also, be careful of your camera, the lighting, okay?

If your apartment is very, very dark, or your space is very dark, people can't really see

you.

This could work to your advantage, but again, in a job interview or an important call, this

doesn't help you.

People need to see you; they need to see your face.

They need to see what you're doing.

But be careful about that too.

Remember, body language is very important.

What you're portraying to people - maybe your mic is turned off, but what your face is doing

is very, very important, because that's what people are looking at.

So, be careful with the lighting.

Be careful that your camera is on or off when it needs to be.

For example, if you have to go to the washroom, turn your camera off.

Just go, "Excuse me", turn your camera off.

Nobody wants to hear you pee, okay?

It's just rude.

Same thing with your microphone, or mic.

We say "mic", hey Mike, what's up?

So, this is the short form for "microphone".

So, in a Zoom call, if there's many people, if you are not speaking in the meeting, turn

your mic off.

Why?

Because it creates background noise.

You might be talking to your mom and it's rude.

You need to pay attention to the person presenting or make it look like you're paying attention

to the person presenting.

Draw some eyes here.

So, turn your mic off.

It works to your advantage too, because you can talk to your mom and do other things.

But just look at the camera.

Body language, yeah?

What are you looking at, okay?

If you're in a conference and you're looking around, you're looking at this, it's very,

very distracting and it shows the person you're probably not paying attention.

Of course, if something happens in the corner of the room you can look, but make sure that

you're making eye contact with the person that you're talking to.

Also, your body language.

If you are slouching, which is, you're kind of like a goblin like this, you need to sit

up straight.

Or maybe you have a super bad hangover and you're sleeping.

Oh, please don't.

Drink some coffee, come on.

Get out of bed, don't ever take a video conference in bed.

I know the people can't see that you're in bed because you're blurring the background

and you're in outer space, but believe me.

I've had friends that are on a very important call and all of the sudden, "Zzz", sleeping.

Bosses are not happy with this stuff.

Get some sleep, grab some coffee, get out of bed, go to a table.

Do you have a pet?

Do you have a cat?

I've seen so many videos of people doing yoga to show off on YouTube and the cat comes in

and is like, "Meow!", walks around.

So, I have a dog and when the mailman comes to my house, the dog goes ballistic, which

means crazy.

And he barks and he barks and he barks.

It's very distracting for my students - thanks, guys, for putting up with that - but you have

to be careful with your animals, with your pets.

Let's say you have a cat or a dog and the cat and your dog are on your lap, which means

they're sitting on your legs.

And you would like to pet your cat or your dog, okay?

Or you'd pet your pet your cat and your dog this way.

It doesn't look like you're petting your cat or your dog, because the people can't see

what you're doing with your hands.

So, there's something else in your lap that people are going to think that you're doing

during the video call.

You can just get fired for petting your cat.

So, refrain from doing that, yeah?

Just wait until after.

Give your dog a scratch when he's ready.

Do you have family?

Good.

Keep them in check.

Woo, slang time with Ronnie.

So, if you keep something it check it means you kind of keep them away from the camera.

I've seen videos with newsmen, newswomen at home and all of the sudden, this baby comes

in.

"Waah, Mom!".

Try to keep them away.

If you can't, it's funny, it's cute.

But in a job interview, it could cost you your job, depending on how formal your meeting

is, this could be detrimental, which means bad, very bad, for you.

Your mom's in the background making a cake, "Click, click, click".

Try to keep the background noise as little as possible.

Try to go someplace quieter, so your mom's not singing opera music, making pasta.

This is the one that I think is really fun, because we're humans, right?

And we have to do things like pee, sneeze, "Achoo", and blow your noise.

Blow your nose means you take a tissue and - I have allergies.

And I sneeze a lot.

As soon as I sneeze, I need to blow my nose.

Now, in some cultures, blowing your nose at the table or blowing your nose in front of

other people, it's rude.

For me, I'm just like, "Excuse me, I have to breathe", but a lot of countries think

that this is really, really rude.

So, advice, turn your camera off.

Blow your - turn off your mic, blow your nose, come back on camera.

Excuse yourself, "Oh, excuse me, I have to blow my nose", come back on.

Again, it's going to depend on the people, how formal or informal the meeting is.

But just to be on the safe side, don't do any of these things.

Don't pee during your meeting.

If you have to, turn off your mic, turn off your camera.

Say, "Oh excuse me, I'll be right back", okay.

If you have to do these crazy lessons, I want to hear your stories.

I want you to subscribe and I want you to put a comment, hit the bell, ding ding ding,

so you can see updates.

And I want you to comment of horror stories or really crazy things that people have done

in conferences on Google Calls or whatever they're called, whatever you're calling them.

Let me know what's happening and hopefully you can have a really chill fun lesson with

me.

You can eat, you can drink, you can do whatever you want.

You can pet your cat, I don't mind!

I'm Ronnie, until later, have fun.