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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.

      

Dress well from head to toe for your meeting. If you have to take a bathroom break or tend to someone, such as a child or pet who wanders into your space, you have to stand up — and then participants can see what you’re wearing. If you’ve been sitting there in your underwear, how do you think people will react? (Your eyes probably grew wider just thinking about that scenario.)

      Don’t do these things

      Do not do any of these things in an online 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.

      

Don’t meet while driving. That should be self-evident, but too many people do it — maybe even you.

      Corporate: Behaving professionally in the workplace

      Okay, you say, all this information about what you should do and what you shouldn’t do is helpful stuff. But when you’re in the virtual workplace, it seems that those behaviors aren’t enough.

      And you’re right!

      Now that your dopamine levels are coming back down to normal, you may naturally wonder what other professional behaviors you may want to use both in online meetings and in written text like online chats and email.

      Send a virtual handshake

      When you’re in an online meeting, be sure to greet everyone in the meeting and tell them that you’re happy to see them. If someone connects with your website by using a form that asks your company for information, send a personalized thank-you message from the appropriate person. The owner or CEO qualifies, don’t you think?

If you have no form, consider adding a chatbot (a program that simulates and processes human conversation, in other words) to your website so that people can ask basic questions and the chatbot’s artificial intelligence, or AI, can provide friendly answers. Plenty of chatbots are available, and you may have heard of some of them, like Netomi (www.netomi.com) and Zendesk (www.zendesk.com).

      Put a face to your name

      You need to put a face to your name so that people can know that you’re a real person. They will not only be more inclined to do business with you but will also know that your business is real.

      

Be sure to add a face to your name on social media, too — especially on business social media sites like LinkedIn.

      Know your (time) zone

      When you make appointments with your business contacts online, be aware of the time zone of the other person. When you’re going to meet online with someone in a different part of the world, you need to check with that person and make sure that the agreed-on time works for them. (4 P.m. in the wintertime in New York City is not 4 P.m. in London; it's 9 P.m., and you don't want to be calling then.) Though a good time for you may be the early morning hours, that may be nighttime for someone else, so be sure that the other person is a night owl.

      This is true even if you’re in the same country. If you’re in California, which is in the Pacific time zone, and you want to meet with someone in the Eastern time zone (three hours ahead of you), be sure to set a time so that both of you are in the office and not at home, in traffic, or at lunch.

      

The same reminder about time zones applies for email messages. If you’re expecting a response right away from someone halfway around the world, you may be frustrated until you realize that you sent the message when the other person was fast asleep.

      Connect during business hours

      To follow up on our suggestions

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