Before your conference, look these over.
1. What!? There's a dress code?
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Wear this...
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Not this...
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Here's why...
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Solid colors
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Plaids, stripes, patterns
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Every time you move, you distract your audience
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Purple, blue, green, pastels
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Red, black, white
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Red and black "bleed." White makes for a glow-in-the-dark look.
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Very simple jewelry, if any
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Sparkly, jangly jewelry
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Noise and reflected light draws attention away from you.
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2. The more you prepare, the smoother it goes
Using video conferencing generally requires more structure than face-to-face meetings or classes. Having multiple sites is a bit like juggling. You need to learn a few skills to avoid dropping a ball or two. If you're new to facilitating multipoint conferencing , you'll want to get some expert advice .
The situation may be more difficult when you're teaching. We've compiled additional tips for teaching .
3. Planning ahead
- Let attendees know you're committed to a start and end time . The Polycom equipment may be reserved for use following your conference.
- Develop a tight agenda and distribute it well before the meeting. Both Microsoft® Word® and Corel® WordPerfect® have excellent agenda templates that can help you stay on schedule. Contact IET if you can't locate these.
- Email your agenda to participants or fax it to the remote sites and ask them to duplicate it.
- When there are many people at your remote sites, ask someone to facilitate the meeting at that location. This person is not required to work with the technology, just help with conference protocol .
- If you're going to use peripheral equipment, such as a laptop or VCR, set up a time to test it with your consultant .
- If required, send materials in advance to remote sites.
- If you'd like to learn a bit about controlling the camera, set aside time for a short lesson from your consultant.
4. How to Teach to a Camera Lens
Here are some tips to help you transfer your traditional experience into the realm of on-line learning.
- Use good eye contact, even though it is only a camera. Think that you are personally talking to another person face-to-face.
- Speak slowly and clearly.
- It is often good to speak in "chunks" of information with frequent paces. This varies the speaking and learning pace.
- Know where to stand. Use tape on the floor to mark a spot. This keeps you from wandering off camera.
- Have fun, use humor, and wear a smile. If you look like you are enjoying teaching, people will be more in tune with what you are saying.