Avoid These Virtual Meeting Mistakes

Virtual meetings made the business world go around as COVID-19 moved many workplace activities out of the office. And these virtual meetings will continue to be a part of our business lives into the future, even as more employees return to a traditional workplace, according to JuliAnn Stitick.

Stitick is a professional coach and motivational speaker, as well as the author of three books, including Step Into Your Power: Five Steps To A Profitable Personal Brand. She will speak on “Virtual Meeting Success Tips: Look, Feel And Sound Competent” at the National Association of Health Underwriters’ Leading Producers Round Table Event during the NAHU Virtual Annual Convention.

Like many of us, Stitick has participated in more virtual meetings than ever over the past few months. But the more virtual meetings she attended, the more she saw people making mistakes that hurt their professional and personal brands.

“I’ve seen some very interesting things when I attend virtual meetings,” Stitick told InsuranceNewsNet. “I see people eating while they’re in meetings, people who have interesting things happening in the background during the meetings.”

The biggest mistake Stitick said she sees people make with virtual meetings is not taking them seriously enough.

“People are not using virtual meetings as an opportunity or a brand asset to build out their personal brand or their business brand,” she said.

Stitick said so many professionals invest time and money into their websites, brochures and other pieces of their marketing. But they don’t realize that the way they appear in virtual meetings also is part of their marketing.

“People are not using virtual meetings as a brand asset,” she said.

Stitick also pointed out a number of mistakes she sees people committing while doing virtual meetings. They include:

• Eating while on a virtual meeting.
• Showing up late or unprepared for the meeting. Stitick advised participants to log on to the meeting 15 minutes before the start time in order to have enough time to work out the technology aspects of the meeting and “get your head in the right space.”
• Not lighting themselves properly.
• Not looking other participants in the eye.
• Not having the camera at eye level in the meeting, so they are either looking up or down at the other participants.

Stitick advised virtual meeting participants to maintain an uncluttered background during the meeting, to give the impression of more professional surroundings.

Proper virtual meeting behavior ultimately boils down to one thing, she said. “If you wouldn’t do it during an in-person meeting, then don’t do it during a virtual meeting.”

Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @INNsusan.

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