A seven step procedure for making your meetings from remote even more real than the ones in person.

One of the most-known downsides of virtual conferences is that they are not in person. Therefore, the question comes up naturally: is there a way to make a video conference feel like a real face-to-face meeting? The answer is yes. If you take the necessary steps to host and manage your conferences in the right way, the feeling of being experienced something virtual will disappear in the participants.

– First, don’t forget good manners. The temptation to go causal during virtual meetings is strong, as you often conference in while staying in the lap of comfort of your home. If you wish something that feels real, act like in real life. Dress properly, control your body language and introduce yourself or make an introduction to the topic in the right way, if you have to lead the conference.

– Second, prepare the meeting. It is important to keep in mind that virtual conferences can be recorded. Thus, it is better to secure the environment where you are going to stay in advance, in order to avoid finishing on YouTube as outstanding example of hilarious speaker. For example, you should take some measures to avoid your children coming into the room during the conference and ensure an acceptable level of noise. Weird or improper objects in the background or in the angle of view of your pc cam should be removed; lighting should be adjusted so that you appear sharply and well-defined.

– Third, involve participants. Guests’ involvement is what really makes the difference between a boring lecture and a lively video conference in most situations. Participants will feel important and considered, and they will come again with pleasure at next conference. Involvement is also useful to make your participants remember your words, as there is evidence that active participation triggers people’s memory much more than taking down notes on a notebook.

– Fourth, set aside to the standard rules of holding meetings. Today, we have deep knowledge of the complex mechanisms behind meetings (real and virtual they may be),thanks to the many psychologists that have been studying them for decades. Therefore, it is necessary to follow the standard rules they have laid down, like speaking one at a time and switching off cell phones and other devices that could become possible sources of distractions.

– Fifth, don’t pretend to be in a real life meeting. Strategies could make you look ridiculous. Never forget that you are on line and you are speaking through a digital media. Simply be professional, and don’t ask the attendees to your meeting for too much, especially if they are novices. They could have problems in using the GUI with subsequent discomfort and embarrassment. Remember that simplicity is always the best strategy.

– Sixth, use technology to make the interaction with your audience as real as possible. Don’t be mean and invest in hardware. HD video conferencing, for example, can improve very much your participants’ experience; solutions like R-HUB TurboMeeting (http://www.rhubcom.com) can assure you and your audience seamless conferences with hi-definition, sharp images and crisp clear audio.

– Seventh, have fun. The human element is a key-factor of success in any virtual meeting. Including some element of fun will relax participants and make you sound and look much more natural. In other words, it will make your meeting feel more real, and this is exactly your goal.

If you are interested in techniques and tips to hold virtual meetings, you are going to find more resources on R-HUB`s blog at http://www.rhubcom.com