How To Get Through Video Conferencing When You Are Introverted
For those of us that are introverted by nature, remote working has been a Godsend. No more having to try and find something to wear, try and get ready to be to work on time, and of course no more sitting in meetings inches away from your coworkers. Hallelujah!However, there is still one thing that can make our pulses race and our sweat glands go into overdrive: Video Calls. Your productive day gets completely disrupted by having to be signed in, then looking and sounding your best by a very specific time. All eyes will be on you for some or possibly even the entire meeting. Even worse, a lot of these meetings are recorded!
Whether it's an important meeting with a client, a casual question that a co-worker needs to ask you, a presentation that you have to give, or the dreaded annual review by your supervisor, these meetings are impossible to avoid. Thankfully though, there are some ways to make them less stressful.
1. Turn off self-view
While this is not available in all video conferencing programs, Zoom has a "hide self view" option under settings that is nothing short of amazing. Human nature is to be concerned with how we look, and seeing yourself while you are speaking can be incredibly distracting and nerve-rattling.Turn off self-view, or even place a physical object in front of your "square" so that you cannot see yourself beyond the initial meeting start-up. It's fine to check that your hair is looking okay and your lighting is good at the beginning, but beyond that you should be free to focus on the topic at hand and not about how you appear.
2. Go into another tab during the meeting
It can be very jarring to have to stare at the other person the entire time you are speaking - or worse, to try and appear like you are paying attention when in fact the meeting has nothing to do with you.
Try this simple trick that this blog post's author does with every video meeting: COVER IT UP! Seriously, either click into another tab for the entire thing, or drag another window on top of all the faces of the people in the meeting. No one will ever know and it makes it far less intimidating when you cannot actually see everyone's face staring at you as you speak.
For a lower tech version, write each person's name on a sticky note, turn your camera off for a few seconds, and place the notes over each person's face. This way, your eyes move as you hear that person begin to speak, so you are listening to what they are saying....you just don't have to be staring at them.
3. Grab a fidget widget
While these objects were originally made for children with attention deficit disorders, they are actually very handy for anyone with a simple case of nerves - and video conferences give all introverts the jitters!
Just before the meeting begins, grab a fidget widget and have it down in your lap or somewhere else off-camera. Using your hands while you are speaking or even just listening can raise your ability to pay attention and lower your stress levels, plus make it less likely that you will stutter or lose your train of thought, so it's a win-win-win.
Word of advice though: Choose a SILENT fidget widget. Popping bubbles or making whirring sounds while you are talking is hardly professional.
4. Set the right environment with music
Meetings can get loud. A lot of people can be talking over each other, or if it's a presentation, the presenter could be incredibly over the top bubbly trying to keep everyone's attention throughout the whole thing. Regardless, the result can be incredibly irritating to an introvert. A good tactic to combat this is surprisingly simple: music.
Set the right environment by getting good headphones. This way, when/if you do have to unmute yourself to speak, no one will hear the music you secretly have playing in the background. Make sure long before the meeting begins that your audio is outputting to the headphones!
Next, make a playlist that is calming to you. Whether that is low fi, coffee shop music or punk screamo music, is entirely up to you. Whatever it is that helps you focus and feel calm, go for it.
When you are about to join the meeting, make sure all of your input and output settings are correct, hit play on your playlist (you should only hear it through your headphones), and you're good to go! Just make sure the volume is down low enough that you can still hear what people are saying, of course.
