You have an 8:30 a.m. court date but instead of being live in court it’s via Zoom. The question is do you have to dress as though you were in court? Do you need to worry about the background, noise level and potential distractions?
Here are the top eight etiquette rules for you to follow:
- Be on time! You would not go to court late so you should not be late for a Zoom or other virtual appearance. You should pre-plan from where you will participate in the Zoom meeting and set up at least 15 minutes ahead.
- Pay attention to mute! When you are not talking, you should be muted so that others are not distracted by the barking dog, noisy child, etc. On the other hand, make sure when it is your turn to talk that you unmute yourself!
- Have a basic understanding of the controls/tools. You do not need to be an expert, but you should know how to mute and unmute, turn your video on, identify yourself, and how to share your screen.
- If you are hosting the meeting you need to know how to invite attendees, let them in from the waiting room, record the meeting, share your screen and mute other attendees. You should also arrange a co-host if possible, in case you are running late or having technical problems.
- Use video unless there are just too many attendees. Video makes it more engaging and keeps everyone more focused.
- Do not multi-task! Although it is tempting to throw your laundry in the dryer, check your emails and texts, do not do it! Treat a virtual meeting like an in-person meeting and give everyone your undivided attention.
- Make eye contact with the host/attendees that are talking. When you are talking, look directly at the other participants. Do not stare at yourself!
- Finally, it is important that you pause between sentences. Pauses will help with lag-time and will hopefully prevent participants from talking over each other.
Like everything new, virtual meetings take some time to get used to, but once you do, you will see how much time, money, and stress you will save!
Contact Attorney Laurie Zimmerman today for a confidential consultation to discuss your situation and learn how we can help.
