Digital Etiquette For Dummies. Eric Butow

       Prepare for the meeting ahead of time by eliminating distractions as much as possible and making sure (if at all possible) that you won’t be interrupted.

       Arrive at the meeting a few minutes early. If you’re the meeting host, you should do this anyway. And if you’re not, you can wait for the host to enter the meeting while you make any last-minute preparations.

       If you’re the leader of the meeting, introduce everyone in the meeting.

       Take turns and don’t interrupt each other.

       Speak clearly and expect that you may have to repeat yourself because — even if your microphone works well — other participants may not have decent speakers.

       Be yourself and remember not to focus on the box showing your face in the app window. Focus on others and engage.

       If you can, look into your camera when you’re talking. That helps others realize that you’re looking at them. (It’s harder to do when the webcam sits on top of a large monitor.) Don’t be afraid to look away from the camera from time to time in order to look at the person you’re speaking to on the screen, because that’s a natural behavior.

       Many video meeting apps have text chat so that you can type with the entire group or with a particular user. If you need to use text chat to communicate, be sure to tell everyone (or at least the leader) about it before you begin. And, if you chat privately with someone, use it sparingly so as not to distract yourself and others.

       Dress for the occasion. If you’re chatting with friends, dress how you would if you were meeting them in person. And, if you’re in a business meeting, dress as you would for an in-person meeting.

       If you’re the leader of the group and the one responsible for closing the meeting, you need to be the one who closes the meeting with any reminders and by thanking everyone, perhaps individually, for attending the meeting.

       Raise your voice: Even if you think doing so will help someone with a bad speaker hear you, no one else with good speakers wants to hear it. You or the person leading the group will have to work with the person to fix the problem — probably offline.

       Talk over the speakers: If you do, expect your audio to be muted because Zoom and many other online video chat apps have that capability. Some speakers will just turn off everyone’s audio unless someone raises their hand in the app.

       Engage in side conversations: We talk elsewhere in this book about not having too many side conversations in the chat window, not only because it’s distracting but also because people will notice that you’re not paying attention to the speaker or to anyone else.

       Turn off your camera: Sure, it’s physically possible to turn it off if you want to carry on a side conversation, but that doesn’t mean you should do it. When someone in a meeting turns off their camera, what's the first thought that pops into your head? You immediately think that person is checking out, right? If you need to turn off the camera and microphone to do something important, like go to the bathroom, let the leader of the group know as soon as possible. If you want to go grab a snack, well, you should have thought of that before the meeting began.

       Snack: Speaking of snacks, it’s a good idea to eat before or after the meeting so that people don’t have to watch (or even hear) you. We talk about this topic in more detail later in this chapter.

       Multitask: Look at the camera or the screen. If you need to check something in the meeting such as a spreadsheet to confirm some data, you can do that, but don’t look on your phone when someone else is talking or you think you can just listen in. Other people can see you and they will notice. That can cost you down the road — and maybe not that far down, either.