Have everything you need at hand
Think of the room you’re hosting from like a conference room. They’re usually equipped with stationery, drinking water, and tissues, so why isn’t your room?
Make sure you have everything you need within arm's length before your next teleconference. If you feel thirsty or need to catch a sneeze with a tissue, you can do so without leaving your seat or frantically reaching around for it.
You should also keep your room at a moderate temperature, and make sure you’re comfortable to avoid getting flustered during the call.
Plan and send the agenda
Hopefully you're using web conferencing because you want to be more efficient. If that's the case, your web conferences need to be well-planned and have a logical flow. Even if you have a clear agenda in your head, it helps to write it down.
It's also important that everyone else understands the agenda ahead of time. This lets them prepare for the parts of the meeting that are most relevant to them.
Have a backup plan
No matter how well you plan your video conference, a solid backup plan is a must in case things go wrong. Got visitors showing up at your door or bored, hungry children? Not a problem if you asked someone trustworthy to keep an eye on things.
Did the internet give up the ghost? Solved if you appoint a co-host using a separate connection and who’s ready to seamlessly step in and keep things rolling.
Arrive early to the video conference
It always pays to arrive early to your video conference, especially if you’re the one hosting. You can download and install updates with time to spare and get your presentation open and ready to go. Don’t forget to plug in your laptop charger or mute your phone.
It can be very annoying when Slack notifications pop up throughout a presentation. Or worse, a sensitive email could arrive with a subject line that you don't want others to see. To be safe, it's best to close all unnecessary programs while sharing your screen.
Remind people to introduce themselves
Just because you know who everyone in the meeting is, they might not know each other. Keep attendees engaged and make them feel valued by introducing anyone who could be joining in for the first time. As a standard practice for great internal communication, take the time to explain who they are and why they’re in the meeting.