Good video conferencing etiquette comes down to a few habits: join on time with your audio and camera already working, mute when you aren't speaking, keep your camera at eye level with light on your face, look at the camera when you talk, and make sure remote people get the same chance to speak as people in the room.
Before the meeting
- Test your setup. Check your camera, mic and speakers in the app's settings before the meeting, not in the first two minutes. See how to test a video conferencing system.
- Join a minute early, especially in a meeting room, where the system may need to wake up.
- Use a headset or a proper speakerphone if you're in an open office or a noisy home.
- Close distracting apps and notifications before you share your screen.
Audio etiquette
- Mute when you aren't speaking in meetings with more than a few people.
- Unmute and pause a beat before talking, so your first words aren't cut off.
- Don't type near the mic. Keyboards are louder on the far end than you think.
- One speaker at a time. In rooms, side conversations make the main speaker hard to hear remotely.
- Avoid two devices with audio on in the same room. That causes echo and feedback. See how to fix echo on a conference call.
Camera and framing
| Do | Avoid |
|---|---|
| Camera at eye level, about an arm's length away | Laptop on your lap looking up at you |
| Light in front of you (window or lamp facing you) | Bright window behind you |
| Head and shoulders in frame, a little space above your head | Only the top of your head showing |
| Plain or tidy background, or a blur | Moving people or a busy background |
| Look at the camera when speaking | Reading your other screen the whole time |
Good lighting matters more than camera resolution. See video conference lighting.
Meeting room etiquette
Hybrid meetings fail when remote people become spectators. In a room:
- Sit where the camera can see you. Don't block others or sit off to the side.
- Speak toward the room microphones and avoid covering table mics with papers or laptops.
- Share content in the meeting, not just on the room TV.
- Invite remote people in. Ask them first in round-robins and watch for raised hands in chat.
- Leave the room ready: hang up, return cables, and leave the camera at its default view. See conference room etiquette and rules.
Behavior during the call
- Turn your camera on when your team expects it, and say so if you need it off.
- Stay present: no email, no eating on camera in formal meetings.
- Use chat for links and short questions, not side conversations.
- Use reactions and raised hand rather than interrupting in large meetings.
For hosts
- Send an agenda and the right link (Teams, Zoom or Meet) with the invite.
- Start on time and end on time.
- Record only with consent, and say when recording starts.
- Summarize decisions and action items at the end.
A short guideline you can post in meeting rooms
Join from the room system, not your laptop audio. Mute when not speaking. Share content in the meeting. Include remote people first. Hang up and return cables when done.
For hybrid meetings specifically, see what is a hybrid meeting and how to set up a hybrid meeting.
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