Are you spending more time leading webinars or web meetings (or participating in them)? It's a rare week that I'm not leading webinars with clients (or meeting with them through a web-based tool).

Though I've been surprisingly pleased with the results after years of tweaking my approach, I am struck by how ineffective virtual meetings and training sessions end up if we're not careful.

This is front of mind for me because later this week I'm interviewing Dr. Nick Morgan about his excellent new book Can You Hear Me? How to Connect With People in a Virtual World (HBR Press). UPDATE: Here's a brief segment of the interview:

Here are some quick lessons for your consideration.

It's Better If We Can See Each Other

One of my clients, in particular, is notorious for people having tape over their laptop cameras. I'm not disputing the wisdom of considering security measures with webcams. What's funny is that for about 5 seconds or so after they log in, I see them in a frame. Then the tape comes down. It's not about security. It's that they don't want to be seen.

I get that. But see if you can get around that with your participants. Nick shares the science behind this but you know it intuitively. When you can see each other, there's more connection.

If I'm leading a training session or meeting, I always have at least my camera on. Depending on the size of your meeting participants, it may not be feasible to have everyone's camera on. But I recommend you keep yours on.

And as I learned from Nancy Duarte in our interview about persuasive presentations, when you're speaking in a virtual session, "fall in love with the little light on your webcam." That's her way of reminding us to look them in the eye, so to speak.

Provoke Interaction

Good face-to-face meeting etiquette remains true for virtual sessions as well. Limit lecture. Provoke interaction.

Whether it's a training session or meeting, I try to make sure 5 minutes doesn't go by without some sort of interaction. It might be:

• Asking a question. Polls usually take too long. Get a question on the table and have people respond through the chat box or by unmuting microphones.
• Calling on someone. Do it because you genuinely want their input. There's a side benefit as well: when they know they can be called on, they're more likely to pay attention.

I don't care if it's Tony Robbins at the mic, the longer you go with only one person speaking, the more participants will be drifting to their inbox, social media, or other distractions.

Make It Personal

As we get more virtual, we lose connection. Find a way to keep your virtual meetings personal. This can include:

• Referring to people by name. Call back to comments they've made earlier.
• Encouraging people to actively use the chat box, sharing thoughts, questions, jokes, etc. If you're not used to this it may seem like it would be distracting. To the contrary, it's an amazingly effective engagement technique. And you learn about each other based on these interactions.
• Having people share something up front. This depends on the context of the meeting, but here's an example. During the minutes before the meeting starts, I will occasionally put something like this in the chat box: "What's something good from your last week?" This has the benefit of getting people interacting, priming some positivity, and providing an opportunity to learn about each other.

Bonus Tip

Have music playing when people are logging in. When there's quiet, people often don't know if the audio is working correctly. Plus, depending on your music choices and their tastes, it can add some helpful ambience.

I stream a music service using a curated playlist (I find upbeat jazz works for many audiences regardless of culture) and make sure the tool is sharing the computer audio.

Share Your Tips!

What have you learned about making virtual meetings and webinars more engaging? More valuable? What are some things you try to do and seek to avoid? 

And how about some true confessions.... Have you ever led (or participated in) one of these in your pajamas? Any funny stories you're up for sharing?

I don't see virtual meetings or training going away any time soon. But we can do better. Agree?

If you found this helpful, give it a like and share it with your network. And leave a comment with your lessons and stories. Let's learn together. Thanks!