Media Training: A Zoom/MS Teams Primer

Tips on Looking and Sounding Good Before the Klieg Lights Glow

This screen grab of a Zoom call features the Golden Gate Bridge as my backdrop, because my kitchen is a mess. Also, my laptop camera is dirty and my lighting isn't optimal. My glasses are smudged. Four fails, but nothing fatal this time, for purposes of conducting media training to the masses.

I set up an important Teams call recently, only to learn that my client has entered the Federal Witness Protection Program.

At least, it looked that way when I clicked the “Join” button for the call.

The city skyline – and sun – shone behind him like a Klieg light, rendering him an anonymous silhouette.

“Lower the blinds,” I said, looking on helplessly as the Teams timer counted down to “0.” This meeting was big – it could springboard his company to the stratosphere.

Closing the shades helped a little. We still couldn't see my client's eyes – the windows of his soul. The meeting started, and the star of the meeting – my client – was effectively anonymous. I could only grit my teeth and muster on. Fortunately, the audio quality was OK. Still, we were only batting .500. I don't think the video quality issue was fatal, but it definitely didn't help.

The first lesson of media training in a visual medium is this: Be certain your audience can clearly see and hear you.

That lesson is more important than remembering talking points, keeping your answers short, or even remembering the name of the person or people you're talking to. These tips apply to media interviews, important meetings, and even regular Zoom/Teams calls you have every day. Because it's good to care about how you come across, no matter what the occasion.

I dedicate this 4-Step Virtual Media Training Primer to last week's Shadow Teams Meeting (soon to be a Tom Clancy-esque knockoff):

The U.S. Marshals Service offers this fact sheet for those who don't follow my virtual media training tip sheet.

Virtual Media Training Tip 1: Zoom a Friend

Schedule some virtual meetings with an honest, media-savvy friend/co-worker who has a half hour to spare, so they can give you honest feedback on your virtual office setup. Ask them: Is there anything that looks amiss? Is there a fraternity pledge paddle in the frame that raises more questions than it should? Did you wear a checked jacket that's causing the camera to freak out? Is the lighting bad? How do I sound? This is the time to fix problems. Not with 10 seconds before Teams Time. Make sure your lens is clean and that your webcam is good enough for virtual meetings. If it's not, buy an external webcam and extra lighting. Also, if you like to wear plaids, keep a solid suitcoat or sweater handy to slip on before virtual meetings.

While Marcel Marceau gets a pass on the Mute Button, the rest of us must learn to ALWAYS check on whether we're muted before we speak in virtual meetings. Virtual media training demands this, at minimum.

Virtual Media Training Tip 2: Don't Go Mute

In that half hour, shuffle through the three most-often used virtual platforms: Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet. (Or some other platform you're using, like Slack's Huddle.) Make sure you're familiar with the quirks of each platform – whether you're set to “mute” when the meetings begin, how to unmute, and how to mute yourself. If your surroundings are too distracting, familiarize yourself to each platform's virtual backgrounds. Maybe learn how to blur your background on each platform. Be especially mindful of these “Mute” and “Unmute” tips. Every meeting has that person who forgets this. Don't be that person.

Both Teams and Zoom can get squirrely if you don't regularly update their software. As part of my virtual media training, I recommend launching all virtual meeting software monthly, to keep it updated.

Virtual Media Training Tip 3: Keep Your Platform(s) Up to Date

Create a monthly calendar reminder to launch Teams, Zoom and Google Meet, to be certain your virtual meeting platforms are functional. Each platform get periodic updates, and three minutes before your meeting isn't the time to find out that your software won't launch for the meeting.

While the positioning of her laptop is wrong for a Zoom call, at least she has hardwired headphones, complying with Tip 4 of our media training.

Virtual Media Training Tip 4: Get Analog (Headphones)

– Invest in some decent hardwired headphones to plug into your laptop/PC for meetings. I recommend that you NOT use Bluetooth headphones. There are a dozen reasons, but the main reasons are that Bluetooth headphones always find a way to unpair during important conversations. They lose power. They just fail. Just go analog with your old-school wire headphones.

Don't believe me? Maybe you'll believe former Chicago mayor and former Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel (photo below).

Rahm Emanuel agrees with Dave Moore Media's guidelines that require wired headphones for streamed meetings and media interviews.

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