How to impress your client during a video-call

An ad agency got in touch recently, because they’d just lost a huge client pitch via Teams and wanted to win them back.  When they asked the client what had gone wrong, they were told it was because they didn't look like they wanted it. Ironically the opposite was true. They were desperate to impress and as I later discovered, as a team got on really well.

Why does it matter?

The problem was that although they felt eager and committed, this wasn’t what came across. Their demonstrated behaviour  was “yeah whatever” – and that doesn’t win pitches.

Because who wants to work with someone who doesn’t care? And this goes for clients, colleagues and yes your boss.

You are your demonstrated behaviour. In video calls, what we see is who we believe you to be.

• The recruiter sees you smiling and attentive as if you actually want the job – and guess what, they presume you do.
• The CEO sees you participating, nodding, smiling occasionally – she believes you care.
• Or which student is your professor is going to notice on the next Teams call? The one with the camera on who actually  looks engaged?

And your engagement helps the presenter. If you’re presenting to a client and colleagues look bored how much harder is it to present. It's the same for your boss or professor. A wall of blank faces makes it so much harder to confidently and clearly put across your point. They will thank you for that engagement.

So here’s 5 tips to help you put yours and your teams best self forward.

1. Pre-call. Get your mind and body ready. When attending a video call, you often have a  sense of being physically trapped because of the need to stay within the view of the camera.   In face to face you can move around, stretch, look away etc. That sense of being trapped just isn’t healthy and is also exhausting. In the minutes before the call, do some exercise and also free up your brain. Jog on the spot furiously for 30 seconds, do some star jumps, pull silly faces and dance to your favourite up beat tune.
2. Have a clear purpose on the call. What do you want to achieve and what can you add to the meeting?
3. Turn your camera on. Doh! Seems obvious – but if the person you are looking to impress can’t see you then you really are going to be Captain Anonymous.
4. Eyes level with the camera. You don’t want to be looking down at your camera – God complex (and we can see up your nose – yuck)  - and you don’t want to be looking up – Peasant/ Pauper. Adjust your camera now and look at the difference it makes
5. Demonstrate your engagement. Without the visual clues of face to face communication its really hard for the presenter to tell if their audience is interested. One of the things that makes presenting virtually so tiring is that we have to consciously rather than spontaneously look for visual clues from our audience. If audience members make an effort to show they are listening and engaged then it de-stresses the presenter and improves their communication. We can do that by nodding at something we approve of, smiling or laughing a little more frequently, giving little thumbs up occasionally to show that we like what’s being said, or more frequently using the reaction emojis to encourage and help replace the missing body language clues. The most important thing though is to demonstrate being interested. Ask questions, prepare something short and insightful you can add, listen and try and obtain something useful from their presentation.

So next time you have to attend a big presentation make a mental note to put your best self-forward. You’ll get yourself noticed in a positive way, it's just a kind thing to do, and finally and most importantly your appreciation of the presentation will increase markedly.