Does it feel like your entire work weeks have been reduced to the perimeter of your laptop screen? You’re not alone. As retailers start to gradually reopen, but business travel and high-attendance events still feel so far away, we’re walking this strange line between virtual and in-person realities. There is a great deal of uncertainty over what we can expect in our “new normal,” even in a resilient industry such as jewelry and diamonds. Since we’ll still be operating virtually for the foreseeable future, we’re excited to share some tips to help you elevate your video chat etiquette.
Hide non-video participants
Your screen can become overwhelming with too many participant boxes, especially when some attendees have turned off their cameras. Hide the non-video participants by clicking Settings>Video>Meetings and check Hide non-video participants.
Share your screen
Physically seeing something while explaining it will help you stay connected. Click the Share Screen Icon on the toolbar at the bottom of the meeting screen. You can either share your entire desktop screen or only one of the windows you have open. When you’re finished sharing your screen, click the red Stop Share button at the top of the screen.
Mute and unmute
Instead of clicking the mute button with your mouse, you can simply turn on/off your microphone with the spacebar. Press and hold the spacebar on your keyboard for this shortcut.
Mute audio and turn off your camera by default
If you want to save your meeting participants from catching a glimpse of private life, try muting the audio and turning off the camera before the meeting even starts. Go to Settings>Audio>Mute microphone when joining a meeting to mute the audio, and turn off the video by clicking Settings>Video> and Turn off my video when joining a meeting.
Transport yourself to a whole new world
Not everyone has the best home-office backdrop. Try virtually transporting yourself to the beach, in nature or anywhere else to add a fun aesthetic to your meeting. This trick also works if your home is a mess in the background. Click on Settings>Virtual Background and select or upload a personal image you want. Keep in mind your system needs to meet the requirements, so make sure you have the latest version of Zoom installed.
React with emojis
Prompting everyone to speak at the same time hardly ever works, especially f you’re asking yes or no question. While staying on mute, you can still give reactions to the hosts or speakers with emoji reactions. Click the Reactions tab at the bottom of the screen and choose the one that best describes your mood. Emojis appear for 5 seconds only.
Record the meeting
Struggling to take notes while also looking engaged? You can simply record the meeting to refer back to later is. Go to Settings>Recording and turn it on. During a Zoom meeting, there should be a Record icon on the bottom toolbar that you can click. These recorded videos can be uploaded to Google Drive or Dropbox to later use.
Touch up your appearance
If you’ve missed a few botox appointments and haven’t been sleeping as a result of all the stress in the news, you may not be feeling your best when face to face with yourself during every call. Luckily, someone at Zoom felt our pain and added an airbrush option. To enable this mode, go to Settings>Video and check the Touch up my appearance box under the My Video section.
Hide your video
If you simply just can’t even with seeing your own video (even with that touch-up hack above), you can hide your video altogether. Simply right-click on your video’s three dots in the top right corner and then choose. Hide Myself. Believe us when we tell you that this option will also help prevent the drain you feel at the end of a video chat.
A few keyboard shortcuts
Frantically clicking around the screen while hosting a meeting wastes time and lacks professionalism. Try creating your own keyboard shortcuts by going to your Zoom desktop client and clicking on Keyboard Shortcuts in Settings. There’s already a list of available shortcuts on the Zoom website, such as Command+J: Join meeting; Command+Control+V: Start meeting; and Command+Control+M: Mute audio for everyone except the host. Use these shortcuts to make your meetings more user-friendly!
We hope these tips and tricks are helpful as you continue to master your meeting flow. It can’t be stated enough that we’re all in this together, navigating uncomfortable situations and doing our very best.
The post Retailer Resources: How to Master Your Next Zoom Meeting appeared first on UNEEK JEWELRY.