Hosting Virtual Meetings

1. What's a Virtual Meeting & Why Would You Want to Have One?

The typical meeting requires a physical meeting location and potentially long, cost-prohibitive travel. More and more, businesses are turning to online meeting solutions that don't require travel time and cost, and communicating with these requires their own skill sets. With the tools now available, you can have meetings with participants from across town as well as across the world instantly. The good news is, these tools are widely available, so your club can host virtual meetings of your own. This is hugely helpful if your usual meeting place isn't available or you want to learn those skills of being a better virtual presenter. 

A virtual meeting is simply a meeting that allows a number of remote participants to communicate via text, voice, or video. There are several technologies and approaches when it comes to a virtual meeting; some popular choices include:

• Google Hangouts
• Skype
• Microsoft Teams
• GoToMeeting
• Zoom
• WebEx

While some of these tools are free (Google Hangouts and Skype, for example), others have trials, feature-limited free or low-cost versions, or require subscriptions. It's recommended you try a few solutions to see what works best for your club.

This lesson will cover the requirements and logistics that apply to any conference, then use Skype as an example.

2. What Do You Need for Hardware?

There are some basic requirements you'll want to have a successful virtual meeting. Let's start with the physical and hardware requirements.

First, you'll need a computer; a laptop is a good choice here, but a tablet can work as well (almost all teleconferencing apps have tablet versions available). A desktop is fine too, and in a pinch a smartphone can work. Windows or Mac for desktops and laptops, Android or iOS for tablets.

Second, you'll want some headphones or earbuds; this prevents echo when you're listening to a speaker. You may want to consider a wireless (usually Bluetooth) solution here to allow freedom of movement. A headset (headphones combined with a microphone) works well here, especially if there's a mute function built-in.

Third, you'll need a microphone. If you use a headset with an integrated microphone, then you're covered. Most laptops and almost every tablet and smartphone have integrated microphones, though the quality may not be sufficient. For a higher end solution, you'll want a USB microphone on a suspension mount with a pop filter.

Fourth, if you're using video (highly recommended for speakers), you'll need a webcam. Many tablets and laptops have this built in, but you may want a USB plug in webcam for more flexibility in framing your shots. A webcam that can be tripod mounted is useful.

Fifth, you'll want a quiet room. Having a lot of background noise will cause big distractions when you're presenting. If you can have a separate room with sound-deadening panels to reduce echo, this is optimal.

Finally, if doing video, you'll want to have appropriate lighting. You want to have lighting that gives you enough light at the right color temperature to be easily seen without being too intense; you may want to try a ring light or adjustable neck light.

3. What Do You Need for Software?

Now that you know what hardware and physical requirements you need, let's get into what you need to consider for your conferencing platform.

1. How many simultaneous users does the platform support? You'll need enough to accommodate your club's attendance as well as any potential guests.
2. What bandwidth requirements are there? If your club members don't have quality internet access, this can be an issue.
3. Does the platform support video? If so, how many people can use it at once?
4. For audio support, do you need a system that supports dialing in by phone?
5. What are the supported operating systems? Most should support Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.
6. What options for controlling the room exist? You may need access to mute the room other than a single speaker (may be labeled "lecture mode"). 
7. How do you arrange or schedule a meeting? Does the system allow you to mail out a calendar invite or will you have to create your own?
8. How do people join the meeting? Do they need special software, or just a web link?
9. Does everyone in the meeting need an account with the service?
10. Is the platform easy to install and use? Any stumbling block here will reduce adoption rates and cause problems and frustration during meetings.

4. Virtual Meetings With Skype

Skype is a great starting place to begin with virtual meetings, because it allows you to have up to 50 users in video chat across multiple platforms for no cost. For most people, this will be enough to facilitate a meeting, or get familiar with having virtual meetings.

This section will cover some basics of setting up Skype to work for your club. 

4.1. Before the Meeting

This chapter assumes you've done the previous setup steps. To get setup with Skype, you'll want to do the following (assuming Windows 10 for much for much of this; see the Skype homepage for more help):

1. Visit the Skype homepage and download the client appropriate for your system. If you're using iOS or Android, use the appropriate app store to download Skype. For Windows 10, you can use the Microsoft Store to download Skype.
2. For Windows: If you downloaded Skype from the homepage link above, run the executable and step through the installation process. 
3. Open Skype. 
1. In Windows 10, you can click on the Start Button, then type in Skype to find it. Click on it once to open it. This should also work in Windows 8 and 7.
4. When Skype opens, you'll have a "Sign in or create" account button. If you have an existing Skype or Microsoft account, you can use that here. If not, you can select "Create one!" to create a Microsoft account for use in Skype.
5. The process will also have you test your microphone, headset, and webcam - it's recommended you do this, but you can go into the Triple dot menu > Settings > Audio & Video to configure and test them later if you need to.
6. To create a new group, you can select New Chat > New Group Chat.
1. Give the chat a name, then select the next arrow.
2. If you have existing contacts to add, you can do so now by checking them, then selecting Done. If not, just select Done.
3. Select the Add to Group button (looks like a person with a plus next to it). 
4. Select Share link to join group. 
5. Enable the Share group via link option, then select Copy to clipboard. 
7. Send the copied link to your club.

For everyone else, they just need to use that link and follow steps 1-5 to get setup and joined to the room.

Some other steps that can help:

• Establish a support team that can respond to issues behind the scenes. These should be computer savvy members that are good at troubleshooting and communicating technical instructions clearly and patiently.
• Everyone with a timed role should be equipped with an on-screen timer, or other timing device handy. A smartphone app can work as well.

4.2. During the Meeting

Now that your club is connected via Skype, how do you conduct a virtual meeting? Many of the standard conventions at a usual meeting apply, but some need modification.

First of all, you'll want to do a check in (15-30 minutes ahead of time helps if you can, so that problems can be resolved). The VPE can use this to track who attended in Easy Speak. The presiding officer should go through your list of attendees to verify that everything is working for them (video and voice). Don't stop yet to have them fix things; just make a note of it and continue through the list. Let your tech team work behind the scenes to resolve the issues, then double check with them before starting.

Second, instruct anyone who is not speaking to mute themselves. This will cut down on interruptions and background noise.

From there, you can proceed with your normal opening. Be sure that any handoff includes the reminder to unmute themselves - this will take some practice to become a good habit.

When it comes to roles, there are a couple modifications to make. First, since the word of the day can't be displayed all the time, you may want to instruct members to write it in large print on an index card in front of them where they can see it - also have the Toastmaster, Table Topics Master, and General Evaluator remind people to use it. Second, because the timer may not be seen, you may want to try different approaches with the role:

• Have speakers run a timer application or device. A timer should still record times, however.
• Have the timer use audio cues ("Green", "Yellow", "Red") at those times.
• Have the timer use group chat messages with the same.

Vote counting can be done by private messaging the vote counter after each section.

For speakers, depending on if they want their stage presence seen, they will need their cameras and audio equipment setup in such a way that facilitates their presentation. Screen sharing mode can be used if they are using slideware. They will need to send the electronic version of their evaluation form to their evaluator ahead of time.

For speaker feedback, comments can be sent via e-mail or private message.