Use the Spotlight to Draw Attention (to your virtual participants)

"People who shine from within don't need the spotlight."

This popular saying may apply to many circumstances but falls short in the virtual meeting world. When we have more than six people in a virtual meeting, it can be difficult to identify who is talking so that we can pay attention to their message. Our eyes get distracted by the cat walking across someone's desk, or the person who is clearly checking their phone messages while 'listening.'

Instead of losing everyone's attention and allowing engagement to drop, use the Spotlight tool in your virtual platform. Zoom, Google Meets and Microsoft Teams all have a version (and others probably do, too.) Spotlight will hold a person's video feed in the forefront so that everyone can easily see them while they speak, maximizing the strength of their message with clearer facial expressions and hand gestures. 

Here's how easy it is to do in Zoom: 

1. As host or co-host, hover your cursor over the participant you want to Spotlight. You can do this over their video feed or over their name on the participant list. 
2. Choose Spotlight for Everyone.
3. When they are done speaking, click Remove Spotlight in the upper left corner. 

Zoom allows you to Spotlight up to 9 speakers at once. This is very helpful for panel presentations at a large conference. 

Little things like this can make a big impact - especially when you combine several of them! For more tips - big and small - contact me to work with your trainers and facilitators.