By gathering people on a video call, a video conference is meant to minimize the need to meet in person. It's an excellent way to drive user engagement and communicate information to large groups of people—clients and colleagues—as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Hosting a video conference also eliminates the need to pay for plane tickets, hotel rooms, conference lunches or venues... adding up to exponential savings. Not to mention that its high-tech features captivate audiences far better than the standard, lecture-style meeting.
Their downfall, however, is this: Video conferences are so simple that people sometimes forget they're professional communication events. And that often leads to embarrassing and unprofessional gaffes that otherwise would not have occurred.
Here are my top 5 video conference horror stories. I hope you can learn from these professionals' mishaps and brush up on your video conferencing etiquette to prevent them from happening to you.
1. Need to take a break? Don't forget to hit mute
We've all been on at least one conference call during which someone tries to mask a flush in the background, but we all know exactly what's going on. Have you heard the urban legend about the top executive who took a break from a video conference in order to use the bathroom, but forgot to turn off his microphone? It's scary enough to keep you up all night—or prevent you from excusing yourself when the need arises.
This embarrassing mistake is simple to avoid; it just takes extra caution. Go before the call or at least remember to mute yourself when you step away. Even if you can't remove your microphone when taking a break, train yourself to at least turn it off.
2. Pets aren't meant for the boardroom
Pets are great. They really are. Maybe they comfort you during the call. But chances are they're just a distraction to everyone else, so keep them out of view. If they had something insightful to add to your webcast, they probably would've made headlines by now.
When choosing a place for your webcast, be wary of distractions such as barking dogs, ringing phones, or noisy children.
