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REMEMBER ALL THE way back early March when we were still outraged that anyone might ambush us with a FaceTime call? Part of that is our Skype baggage from the early-2000s when we were haunted by grainy, frozen-screen images of loved ones and our mothers were worried about how grey we looked.
Well, look at us now.
Staring at ourselves and each other several times a day on video chat platforms – Zoom, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, House Party – apps that most of us hadn’t heard of a few weeks ago.
Video conferencing is our new socially-distanced life. It’s where we gather for hen parties, Friday drinks, quizzes and candlelit yoga.
We meet colleagues there for meetings and interview panels for jobs.
All came so fast
In the past, transformations in the way we worked were fairly gradual. Tech innovations rolled out over time.
For example, the first version of what would become known as email was invented in 1965. Yet Google’s Gmail wasn’t unveiled to the public until 2004.
This time, it was different. The change was rapid. Instant, even. And we were largely unprepared for it.
In March, as we commandeered corners of kitchen worktops for workspaces, downloads of videoconferencing apps hit record highs. None more so than Zoom – it continues to lead global download charts in Apple’s app store.
We’re cracking this new way of working and are rightly proud of ourselves. But we have a way to go.
All about the angles
Who among us has been imploring experts on the news every night to hold their phone down so we’re getting less forehead into the shot? Or up, so we’re seeing less chin?
How come I can see so much of your ceiling? Now all I can focus on is the fact that you don’t have a shade for that naked lightbulb.
It’s a great leveller. Even presidential hopefuls haven’t sussed out their angles.
Former Vice President Joe Biden gave an election night speech from his basement against a poorly-lit backdrop and the result was grainy footage that had some observers comparing it to a hostage video.
His first virtual town hall meeting was riddled with technical glitches, garbled audio, missed cues and the candidate twice asking his team if he was live.
Canadian Prime Minister Justine Trudeau spoke for us all when during a remote press conference, he suggested with a now-familiar weariness:
Donda, you might be on mute.
Yes, even the best of us are still learning. Getting this right means taking a series of actions. First, familiarise yourself with your new tools and what you can do with them. Do trial runs with colleagues to make sure things work and to check that any wine bottles are out of shot.
When it comes to meetings on video conferencing platforms, everything you do is magnified. Think of normal meeting etiquette – on steroids.
10 rules to Zoom by:
Know your role - Are you the host? Set an agenda to make sure it starts on time and the first 10 minutes isn’t spent waving at each other and talking about Normal People. Call people out by name to contribute. Otherwise, everyone will probably stay silent. As a participant, prepare your inputs beforehand and be clear on your objective.
Work out your angle – No amount of make-up or ‘Touch Up My Appearance’ filters matter unless you get this one right first. Avoid an “up-angle” at all costs. Raise your laptop onto a pile of books to keep it at eye level. If you’re working off a phone or a tablet, a rolled towel is handy for tilting to the best angle. Take a selfie first to reality test exactly what will be transmitted to the group.
Find your light - Always make sure light is in front of you and not behind you. Otherwise, your colleagues will only see a silhouette – it’s a common mistake. Whether it’s a window or a lamp, face the light so you’re clearly visible.
Check your background - Your communion photos are cute. Your bed looks cosy. Your colleagues don’t need to see either. Make sure whatever is on a shelf beside you is work-appropriate. If you’re working out of your hot-press, Skype, Zoom and Teams have features that enable you to blur your background or switch to a virtual one (Outer Space? The Golden Gate Bridge?). Whatever you go with, make it as neutral as possible.
Keep Zoombombers out – Recently, a Dublin GAA club was the victim of Zoombombing when an online coaching session for children was hijacked and bombarded with inappropriate content. Make your meetings more secure by keeping your invite list small and your event private. Set a meeting password or use Zoom’s waiting room feature to monitor who gets in. Don’t share meeting links, IDs or passwords on social media.
Pretend you’re in the room – Sure, wear your pyjama bottoms. Just ask yourself how it will look if you stand up before the meeting ends. Would you scroll or tap in a real-life meeting? Probably not. Don’t answer the phone. It’s rude both in the physical and cyber world.
Let us see you – Turn your video on (if your Broadband connection permits). It’s soul-destroying speaking to a black square with a name on it. If you’re using a separate camera, place it close to your screen so you’re facing the person you’re talking to.
Be careful – If you’re screen-sharing, clear your desktop and browser of anything private or potentially embarrassing. Be wary of Zoom’s chat function. If the host is recording a call, all chats – public and private exchanges – are saved.
Mute – When you’re not speaking, mute yourself – especially if there are more than two people on the call or you’re working from home with others. Your microphone can pick up a lot of background noise. Turn both audio and video off if you’re having an intimate conversation with someone at home.
Send an agenda ahead of the meeting – Or you’ll spend 10 minutes of a meeting waving at each other and talking about Tiger King.
Lock the door – Only you find your kids and pets that cute. Remember, the workplace is invading their lives, not the other way around. If you think they could interrupt, give the other participants a heads up at the beginning of the meeting that there’s likely to be a disruption.
Sarah Geraghty is a consultant with The Communications Clinic.
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Good article. I do a sexual health schools programme.I think sexual orientation is also important , if raised by parents, it may significantly reduce the difficulties for LGBT children
This sort of thing should be left to the local curate or parish priest
Totally agree on sexual orientation. My son is 5 and knows that boys can love and marry boys if they like and girls with girls.
My sexual orientation is portrait
Don’t mention it….they’ll get upset
They will also bugger you for free
Perhaps alongside sex ed and sexual health, contraception etc, specifically boys should be taught in school about family law and lack of parental rights because of their gender, that way if it ever goes wrong for them they know to expect nothing in terms of support or services to help them cope. At least they’d be prepared and more cautious both emotionally and financially going into relationships. It might also help to include the fact aswell as being potential perpetrators, that they may be at risk of being a victim of partner abuse and that this may go unnoticed and be scoffed at from all corners of society and again to expect next to nothing in services and supports.
Peace for all ……… That was a very good comment
Just give them this article to read… Conversation avoided!!!!
The importance of deodorant?
“Boy, 12, collapses and dies after spraying too much Lynx deodorant”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3489942/Boy-12-collapses-and-dies-after-spraying-too-much-Lynx-deodorant.html
In my opnion, 2 very important subjects are missing – contraception & safe sex
Ask “your” mother.
Anyways. I can’t see in this day and age why it’s so hard to have that conversation. It’s not like sex is a taboo subject anymore. Just be factual. Don’t try and he’d anything and don’t hide your own embarrassment by being funny about any part of it.
I’m 27 nearly 28, have no kids or none that I know of ;) but I’d never tell me child if it was a lad “you know it’s ok when your older to date and marry boys”, not in a million years
All gay people have straight parents….
Well Shane, if you were a parent and a good one, you would wish only health and happiness for your child, whatever path they choose.
I have two girls,with my partner/girlfriend.They are fostered.Parents are biological entities that do not always equate with mum and dad.
Nothing about health and happiness Joanne! Why discuss with a CHILD about been gay! there own course of action will be takin and hopefully they will be straight
Its a good job u don’t have any kids then isn’t it you massive muppet!! (or none that you know of Haha ur so funny u sti riddled rodent ) !!
Your newest follower on twitter…..
“And hopefully they will be straight” – ???
For your own sake Shane, do not have any children, they may only disappoint you and you them!
So what about children that are adopted by gay parents?
Lol don’t respond to fake profiles in a serious manner
Cowenwatch
Yes like most parents would hope their child when older fancies the opposite sex
tell them they are gay, that way they will go straight to p you off
Shane I don’t have any children myself yet. But if and when I do, I can only hope to God they’re in good health and happy no matter who they are.
Do you know there are five different genders in the world, not just male and female? Once a person is born, the hospital, especially Western hospitals, decide what gender the child will be. So possibly, you could look like a man and have all the man bits, yet feel like a woman all you life and, by extension, fancy men. Then again, you could be just a man and gay. You wont know this but peoples’ gender is socially constructed and society changes with time so don’t believe everything you think you know is set in stone – it isn’t!
Ah don’t start going into that codswobble! if and when I have children, I will never yes never have a discussion with them saying it’s ok to be gay! As I said they will live their own course of life and hopefully be straight! If not obviously I’ll have to deal with it some way
Oh dear. Well good luck with the future so.
What’s very strange is talking to a CHILD about been a gay when they wouldn’t have a clue at that age! What I just said to you in my previous message is what most would do, not tell a child “listen tommy you no it’s ok when ur older if u fancy men”! God that sounds so wrong even typing it
Not true Phil Prendergast. Many gay people have straight or gay kids.
Shane, it’s ‘being’ gay not ‘been’ gay. Dont have kids.
I don’t take any notice of spelling police online! A word misspelt or bit of txt speak doesn’t bother me in the slightest!
Could they not have BI parents too??
Ah Phil you have NO chance against the good old lads chat behind the bike shed at break time.THATS where you learn the facts of life in an Irish school.brendan Graces version.
“Wha happens Bottler?” ” Yer Mickey goes all hard .” An wha then?”Ye stick it inside her.” “Wha happens if you dont like cider?”
Here’s a question for you Shane. Do you think people are born homophobic or do they pick it up as they grow up?
What I find amazing is Phil Prendergast gives sexual health programs in schools, yet comes across as a bit of a homophobe herself. No offence Phil and maybe I am wrong, but that’s a weird one.
Straight answer, havnt a clue! I just hope my kids will be ok! If they end up that way there will be rules in my hous tho
Not sure who red thumbed you there but the simple answer is: No one is born a homophobe, society breeds it into them, much like racism.
Ironically, if your interested, it was the English Government who first made homosexuality illegal to get back at Oscar Wilde! Two gentlemen going for a stroll in Hyde park arm in arm was normal before then. Wilde had to leave London after that. I think he ended up living rough on the Parisian streets when he said “We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars”.
Anywho, good look with your point of view and go easy on the kids – remember it is society which dictates to us how we should live and the most flawed of conditions is the human one. Peace out!
What’s wrong with hoping your kids are straight?
Absolutely nothing
I just tell my son to always wear a johnny
Just in Casey
I think that parents also need to educate themselves about these topics before going to talk to their children.
Just tell your kids the truth, make sure they know they can come to you and talk or ask questions
When my missus and I gave our eldest sex ed, we told him that some men fancy men or women and some women fancy men or women and in some cases men and women fancied both genders. He didnt bat an eyelid. We told him this was all normal. Just dont lie.
Ask you’re mother
You’re = you are
My previous comment was for Phil Prendergrast
One conversation where its better to say nothing. Its bad enough that young people have to put up with the shame of seeing their parents dancing
have your say