Many unsuspecting participants went viral for all the wrong reasons, from using the bathroom on camera, being naked and forgetting to disable the camera, breaking wind while unmute and attending meetings in pyjamas. Quite frankly, there were too many to recall. And while they provided entertainment for many, especially during a time of uncertainty, job loss, economic downfall and depression, truthfully it reminded many of us of what not to do. Yet, almost 2 years in and participants still have trouble navigating the presentation of themselves during a zoom meeting or any other virtual meeting for that matter. So I decided to make a cheat sheet that hopefully will help anyone who has trouble with online etiquette or presentation.

Oh, and whether you are presenting to a group or just attending, it is just as important for you to show up and show out with the understanding that although the environment has changed, the professional expectations haven’t. Your personal and/or professional brand is ALWAYS on display.

Charge your devices

This may seem very simple, but you would be surprised to know how many people show up to their zoom meetings late or have their presentations interrupted because they didn’t charge their devices the night before. It’s 8:00 a.m. and your computer is now shutting down because it has 1% battery life *rolls eyes*. Zoom meetings consume a lot of power because of the camera and that battery power depletes rapidly once you launch your meeting. I have found that charging devices from the night before helps mitigate or avoid unnecessary issues that can make you seem unprofessional. PRO TIP: I bought a UPS so that in the event electricity went, I have a power source to give me at least one hour.

Be Early For Your Zoom Meetings

Be punctual! Not on time, but early. The same approach you would hopefully take when attending an in-person meeting should be the same for a virtual meeting. Therefore, I would recommend that you actually add the zoom meeting to your calendar. Some persons don’t RSVP or add to the calendar and as such lose out on the benefit of alerts and other notifications.

Additionally, try to set up your “meeting space” the night before. I tend to place my laptop on my laptop stand and attach my webcam from the night before to avoid the last-minute rush. It’s one less thing to worry about. Even if the meeting is scheduled for a particular time, I tend to sign in 15-30 minutes earlier. I would rather wait for the host to let me in, rather than enter late.

Check your Lighting and Frame

Unless you are trying to conceal your identity by doing what’s called a silhouette interview, you might want to sit somewhere that provides natural lighting (window or door) or invest in a lamp or light source (ring light) that can light your face adequately. Light your face from the front, not the side because that casts a shadow on one side of your face. The quality of your on-screen presentation diminishes in the eyes of your participants who can’t see you clearly and they quickly lose interest in what you have to say.

While we are on the topic of your face, frame your face before you go on camera. i.e. try to ensure that you are in the centre of your display screen. Your audience doesn’t want to see half of a head or face. Of similar importance, is your audience’s vantage point. Raise your laptop preferably on a laptop stand. (Some persons use a stack of books but depending on the length of the meeting, that can overheat your device). Why raise it? Because we don’t want to see your brains through your nostrils. If you are presenting and seeing your “nose holes” (as we would say in Jamaica), it means that your audience is seeing the same thing. Raise your device to eye level, you should never be looking down into your device. I wrote a blog outlining all my affordable equipment that enhance my online video presentation

Check your internet connection

No one likes to get caught frozen with mouth agape and eyes looking all crazy, it makes for a perfect meme. Or worse- you get bumped off! And yet, that happens all the time and can totally detract from a presentation you are delivering. Close all windows/tabs on your computer so that you aren’t pressuring your WI-FI unnecessarily and try to situate yourself near your router. I personally plug directly into the ethernet because I will be damned if I get interrupted while hosting my online events. If your router is too far from you, you can always purchase an extra-long ethernet cable.

Check Your Background

Many of us may not live in mansions that offer us specially designated areas like offices, dens, mini-libraries, conference rooms etc. We understand that some of us live in small studios or may share quarters with a housemate or multiple persons but we really need you to check your background area. Try your best to find a neutral space that doesn’t distract or compete for your participants’ attention. It is advised to find a space with the least noise possible, as well as clutter. It could be as innocent as having family photos in the background (your audience will try to identify everyone in those photos) to things like seeing your unmade bed, dirty clothes on the floor, bathroom towel hanging on a door, broken blinds or peeling paint. People will side-eye you, screenshot and your background will end up being discussed in a private WhatsApp group.

PRO TIP: Some of you constantly disappear into your virtual backgrounds because you aren’t using green screens. Portable green screens have become very popular to mitigate that unsightly experience. I simply bought green material from a fabric store and attached it to my photo studio backdrop support stand.

Dress Appropriately

Everyone wants to go viral, but go viral for the right reasons. You wouldn’t wear pyjamas to your office, so why would you attend a zoom meeting in them? Why are you showing up on camera in flexi-rods, bonnets and du-rags? Why are we showing up with crusties in our eye corners and bridles at our mouths? Some participants are seen lying in bed, on camera! Jesus take the wheel! If you aren’t feeling well, you should sit it out rather than showing up like that. You will come across as unprofessional and discourteous. Dress appropriately and I will go a step further to say, dress from head to toe.

Some participants sometimes forget that they aren’t fully dressed. Only to move or stand while on camera while in underwear. Fam, you won’t die if you dress fully for a few hours. PRO- TIP: Be ready! Even if it is said to be an off-camera meeting, never get caught unprepared. If your chairman or boss requests an impromptu on-camera meeting, emerge looking as sharp as a stepping razor. You aren’t dressing for your boss, you are dressing for your brand. Self-pride is a beautiful thing.

Eating During Zoom Meetings

I get it, you are at home relaxing and comfortable but crunch, crunch…slurp ain’t it! Typically, during in-person meetings, we don’t eat. Long Board meetings or gatherings that have been scheduled as breakfast, lunch or late-night meetings permit eating. Other than that, we tend to schedule our food breaks outside meeting hours. Eating hominy porridge or sipping a Heineken at 9:00 a.m. during your virtual zoom meeting, can look unprofessional. Attendees will question your leadership abilities if they see you eating a chicken lunch or crunching Cheetos during a meeting.

If it’s an off-camera meeting and you are muted, knock yourself out. Just ensure that if you enable the camera, there is no food hoarded in the corners of your mouth (you are not a hamster) or food in your teeth. I personally don’t like to take unnecessary risks, so I tend to eat during my breaks.

Mute Your MIC During Zoom Meetings

Shhh!!! Thou shalt surely mute thyself in zoom meetings.  How many times have we heard hosts trying to advise persons to mute their mics? And yet audience member’s ears are assaulted with plates, washing machines, arguments, phone conversations, the TV and in some cases rude romps *SMH*. Mute your mics so that your background noise doesn’t interrupt or disrupt the meeting.

There may be lots more! Feel free to add your 2 cents in the comments. They will help the community to avoid potentially embarrassing moments that can stain their personal or professional brands.

The post Zoom Meetings Dos and Don’ts appeared first on Terri-Karelle.

Chris has achieved success time and time again. He did it as CEO of the National Commercial Bank and continues this legacy by consistently leading Proven to double-digit net profit growth in the billions. His success is so laudable that he has been nominated to receive the Observer Business Leader Award, a most prestigious honour reserved for the highest performing CEOs in Jamaica. He is a man that is not led only by his convictions, but the results he attains.

When asked what has led to his success so far, Chris chalks it up to one thing: training his mind. He believes that the mind is the most powerful tool a person has in their arsenal and it is the one thing that determines your success.

We spend in our youth, convinced that we need to be born with an innate ability to do things, and if we don’t have that ability, then that’s the end of the road for us. The truth is, there are the Usain Bolts and the Lebron James of the world, who are born with natural talent. But even if you don’t fall into that category, you can still train your mind to deliver the results you desire. In our hour-long chat, Chris shared a few specific areas to focus on to achieve just that. Let’s take a look at them.

“For everything you do, have a goal.”

Chris is a big believer in having SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-bound) goals for every area of his life. His own goal for appearing on Digicel Business Masterclass is to beat Gary Peart’s viewing numbers from the last masterclass. Ha!

On a serious note, he encourages others to train their mind to seek success in every endeavour. Even if they don’t achieve it, they’ll get the best possible outcome by working towards something, rather than just being there for being there’s sake.

“In life, you either win or you learn. You never lose.”

Every car is built with shocks. No matter how fancy, beautiful or well-designed they are, they are built with shocks to absorb the impact of a blow. Why? Because no matter how good you are, you are still going to meet bumps along the road.

Your attitude in life is your built-in shock absorber. No matter how intelligent you are or how good you become, mistakes will happen. For whatever reason, you will not attain what you set out to achieve. When that happens, you have to be able to bounce back.

While Chris has had setbacks in life – to the point where he’s had to sell his matrimonial home to keep his business running and pay his bills – he always comes back stronger. His mindset is that he doesn’t fail, he’s just learned a valuable lesson.

“Be down to earth, practical, and frank about who you are.”

One of the key tenets of a success mindset is emotional intelligence – you must be self-aware. Being frank and honest with yourself about who you are, what your strengths and what you want to attain in life are the only way you can get there.

Once you’ve identified these strengths and weaknesses, you can determine how to handle them. One thing I’ve learned, which I shared with Chris in the session, is to “focus on your strengths and delegate your weaknesses, which can be very useful in business.

However, Chris recommends that if there are areas of weaknesses that you want to improve, particularly if they are crucial to the goals you want to achieve, then you need to take on little challenges that force you to improve on these areas.

“You can’t drive a car looking in the rearview mirror.”

What’s gone is gone. If you spend your time celebrating past successes, you never get to focus on what’s next.

Chris never allows himself to get complacent. He’s always focused on the upcoming challenge. When asked what motivates him to keep going, he says he stays motivated by his stretch goal. What’s that? Growing to the level of his previous employer, NCB.

Despite his current level of success, making 4-5 billion dollars in profit with Proven, he still has a way to go to achieve his ultimate dream – being one of the top five performers in the finance market in the region, making somewhere between 15-20 billion in profit.

He encouraged viewers to keep focusing on the future by always having a to-do list, because as the old adage says, Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.”

“Don’t waste time with excuses.”

Earlier in his career, Chris remembers going to his boss, Group CEO of NCB, Patrick Hylton, to explain why he hadn’t achieved the targets they had set. In the midst of lamenting about all the reasons he failed, Mr. Hylton fell asleep. He was simply not interested. Instead, he told Chris not to waste his time giving excuses and to simply assess what went wrong, learn from it and keep moving.

That’s the philosophy Chris lives by today. He believes you must hold yourself accountable and take responsibility for your actions, and not just blame it on external factors. The only way to improve upon your previous performance is to zone in on what you did wrong and learn from it.

“Inspire and be inspired by others.”

Successful people tend to leave breadcrumbs – little nuggets of wisdom along their journey that you can use to inform your own path to success. Chris is a firm believer in following the breadcrumbs. He prefers listening to motivational speakers, because these help him train his mind.

On the flip side, he believes in giving back as much as he gets by mentoring others, and believes that mentorship can have as much of an impact on the mentor as it does on the mentee. In fact, it is from a conversation with a mentee while at NCB, who asked him why he was encouraging others to become entrepreneurs but not doing it himself, why he made the decision to start Proven.

Even though the live session is over, Chris still needs help beating Gary with views on YouTube LOL. So if you haven’t watched this episode yet, watch it here . As for Gary Peart, CEO of Mayberry Investments, here are the takeaways from that interview

The post The Success Mindset. Digicel Masterclass appeared first on Terri-Karelle.

We can’t talk business without talking about money management! And who better to talk about money than Gary Peart. Not only is he the CEO of Mayberry Investments with over 20 years of experience in the wealth management field, but he’s also the Chairman of the Board at Supreme Ventures Ltd. and a Director at several other large Jamaican companies.

Gary dropped so many useful financial gems in our 80-minute chat that if you weren’t writing them down, you would surely miss them. Luckily, I’ve pulled some of the key takeaways from this episode and shared with you below. Take notes!

Have a relationship with your money

The biggest takeaway from this session – and the point Gary kept coming back to repeatedly during the episode – is that everyone needs to have an INTENTIONAL relationship with their money. 

What does that mean? In practical terms, it means spending at least one hour each month with your money to understand exactly what you have, how you’re using it and what future opportunities exist to get you where you want to be. 

If you’re a parent, teach your children about money in the same way. Have an hour with your child each month to teach them about basic money lessons and help them get good at managing it on their own.

This advice isn’t just for individuals either. It’s for businesses too! The more you understand exactly how money’s working in your business and what financial obligations and opportunities you have, the better you can plan for the future of the business and the more likely you are to grow. 

Invest, don’t save

In today’s world, the best position to be in is to be an owner. And one of the best and most affordable ways to achieve ownership is through investing in the stock market.

In the past, investing has been demonized as a risky option that exists only for the wealthy who have cash to burn. For me personally, I didn’t think investing was an option until I started to see friends around me doing it. Only recently have the conversations been happening openly about how accessible it really is.

At the end of the day, saving your money in a standard savings account at a commercial bank will give you minuscule returns, but using the same amount to invest smartly is far more likely to yield better returns in the same time frame.

It’s not something to just jump into, but the earlier you start your investment journey, the better you’ll get at it as time goes.

Money isn’t simple, it’s hard work

What does Gary think is the biggest misconception people have about money? That’s it simple, and anyone can do the kind of job he and his team does at Mayberry.

“In developed countries, one of the key persons is the financial advisor, and it’s very difficult to find a good financial advisor. In Jamaica, everyone thinks that they’re a financial advisor.”

What people don’t often see is the ridiculous amount of hours that financial advisors and experts spend understanding businesses and trends that impact the money market. It’s not something that you can just get right on a whim.

This leads back Gary’s original point of having a relationship with your money. The more time you spend with your money consistently, the better you’ll be able to see the trends and patterns associated, and make decisions accordingly.

“If you earn $1000, you should not spend more than $1000.”

Another big problem Gary sees when it comes to personal finances today is people not accepting their current financial status.

It’s easy to think that if your peers around you are spending on certain luxuries, then you should too. But making that mistake could be extremely costly to you down the road when you realize that you didn’t invest in your future wellbeing while others did. Money management takes discipline.

This isn’t to say that you should not be treating yourself at all. You can and should, every once in a while. But it is important to do it in a responsible way, especially when it comes to those big life-changing decisions that could make a serious dent in your financial future without you even realizing it. One such decision – having kids!

“The decision to have a child is fundamentally, at today’s prices, a $20-30 million-dollar decision. It’s a commitment that you’re making for the next 20 years.”

Business struggling due to COVID? Pivot!

Some businesses – like food and delivery companies – are making super profits during the pandemic, yet others – like those in the tourism and entertainment sectors – are struggling and hoping for the best. If you’re in the latter group, the question you should be asking is, “How do you pivot?”

One of the side effects of the COVID is that it has changed the way people operate. Most of us are working from home and going about our days a lot differently.  This has created opening and opportunities for smart businesses to pivot and offer the kinds of goods and services that are in need right now. So give some thought to your core capabilities, resources on hand and skillsets of your team to figure out what you can do to keep your business afloat and generate sufficient cashflow until this period has passed.

Money management also means that businesses should also be planning for the future once this stage of the pandemic is over. COVID may not go away, but soon enough, things will be back to functional normality, and businesses need to be prepared to adjust again when that happens.

Can’t afford to go digital? Don’t worry.

 While digitization for businesses is certainly important into today’s world, it isn’t all doom-and-gloom if you don’t have the capital to do so.

While some societies are heavily reliant on digital today, luckily Jamaica isn’t just yet. Here, cash is still king. Therefore, if having a digital component isn’t critical to business performance, then don’t kill yourself to get it done, but keep a watchful eye on the market trends and consumer behaviour.

However, if you do need to digitize some areas of your business, there are opportunities available. Entities such as the Development Bank of Jamaica offers programmes that may be able to help, and you can take advantage of the subscription-based services online that allow you to pay in small increments as you go, rather than making a big cash investment up front.

Money management means making the right decisions. At the end of the day, businesses shouldn’t just go digital because they think it’s the big thing and everyone’s doing it. Instead, they should be considering whether it makes sense in their hierarchy of value, that is, they should be spending the most money in areas that give them the most returns.

Want more of Gary’s wisdom?

The “Money Management” session with Gary was deeply insightful and packed with so much valuable information, I couldn’t possibly fit it all into one post. So if you haven’t already, I encourage you to go watch the full episode on YouTube. It’s well worth the time investment and you’ll even pick up Gary’s tip to save you a bundle on interest on your credit card! 

The post Money Management. Digicel Business Masterclass appeared first on Terri-Karelle.

I am no guru but over the years I have had to research and take recommendations to find equipment that served me based on what my objectives were. It’s always best to determine what you want to achieve before buying equipment because you can find yourself filling your online shopping cart with expensive things that you may not need or use. So, per the request of Instafam, I have outlined the equipment I use. The most expenive thing on my list cost me $60 USD. Keep in mind that some prices might have changed over a period of time. If you are a beginner or even intermediate, I hope this gets you started or helps to improve your video creation even in the slightest.

Camera

So let’s talk! When it comes to creating video a lot of persons think it’s all about the camera and to a certain extent, there is credence to that perception. But if you are just starting out and experimenting with no intention of being an Emmy-nominated videographer, or editing guru, you don’t have to buy an expensive DSLR camera such as Canon, Nikon or Sony brands. For me personally, I like to take things in stages, learn the basics, and then invest in the heavier equipment (if that is my next level). What I don’t want to do is invest too heavily in equipment that I may not use consistently or at all.

That being said, to create better video on a budget, any smartphone that shoots in 1080p will render crisp videos. I own an iPhone 10, as well as a Samsung 10+ and I go to my Samsung for all videos. In fact, videographers have sent me DMs asking what camera I use for my virtual conferences- it’s my Samsung! I use it for Youtube, IGTV and everything in between. In other words, most of us are already walking around and using smartphones that can do the job well.

There is also the issue of webcams. In light of the explosion of virtual meetings, conferences, and events, the need for crisp video is just as important. Quite a number of us are using our laptops and maybe some of you have this same problem; my built in camera resulted in a grainy look. To fix that, I got the $55 USD 2020 Autofocus 1080p Streaming Webcam. I plug it straight into my laptop via USB and voila, my video goes from zero to hero.

Support

My early videos were not necessarily shaky but rather angular because I often held my phone while recording. Often times, you will end up switching hands, moving back and forth, or creatively “kotching” your phone on something sturdy enough. But trust me, depending on the surface, your phone could very well, slide all the way down while you are recording and who on earth wants to risk that happening and ruining a great video? It was while I was in a supermarket that a young lady said that she enjoyed my videos but recommended that I invest in a tripod. I loved the feedback!

When creating better video on a budget, you have to consider the sturdy support of your phone or camera, so I invested in a $15 USD desktop tripod with wifi remote and Flexi-arms that allows it to wrap around different things. and small enough to hold on a table. Later on, I got a $30 USD 39.5″ Fotopro Phone Tripod Stand for the ability to adjust the height

Lighting

Boy oh boy when it comes to creating better video on a budget, lighting plays a key role. When I first started out, I never knew anything about natural light vs warm and white light. I just “point and shoot” LOL but then you look back at your videos and there are sharp shadows across your face that sometimes make it look as if you were in a bar fight OR there are shadows cast behind/beside you that detract from your presentation. In essence, I looked like one hot buttery mess LOL. There is an inclination to invest in the expensive softboxes (the parachute or umbrella-shaped lights that the professional photographers use) but if you aren’t at that stage yet, most of us use ring lights. They are smaller, more portable, and get the job done.

I started out with $23 USD Selfie Ring Light with Cellphone holder and Lazy Bracket which has a clip that allows you to affix it to various surfaces. My daughter has taken this one over completely. Then I graduated to the $37 USD 10″ Selfie Ring Light with an extendable tripod stand (this also comes with a cell phone holder and doubles as a selfie stick).

*** If you want an even larger ring light, I have seen the $85 USD Neewer 18″ Ring Light Kit recommended by lots of YouTubers. I can’t speak to it because I don’t own one personally.

It is important to make note that the tripod stands that come with the ring lights are mostly equipped to hold phones only. If you have intentions to use a camera, you will need to ensure that you use a tripod (similar to the ones I mentioned before in the Support section). Those are equipped to interchange between phones and cameras, they just don’t come with the ring light.

Audio

I know that there is a lot of emphasis on the visual aspect but honestly, you could have the best camera and best lighting but if your sound is terrible you can forget it! Now, in recent times we have seen a boom in the use of microphones by podcasters and YouTubers and yes, some of those mics carry very hefty prices, however, you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg on audio. Your objective is to create better video on a budget but your audio cannot have to sound crappy. Your mic choice will depend on the objective of your video and the type of content you produce.

I invested in a small Mpow USB Headset (All-Platform Edition)  that gives me the ability to cancel noises around me via the headphones but also provides a mic at the end of the headset that you can control the volume. I also have a $40 USD Unidirectional Video microphone which amplifies my voice when I am doing video solo. That means it is unidirectional and cannot be used if you intend to have a conversation. This kit comes with mini mic, mini tripod, and wind muff (if you need to use outdoors). I just launched a podcast “Redirection with Terri-Karelle” so I had to graduate to a bigger mic that would permit conversation and crisp audio so I settled for a $60 USD USB Maono Microphone Kit. The sound quality during my virtual meeting and events improved exponentially.

One last thing, always shoot horizontally! I always forget because I am so accustomed to shooting in portrait/vertical mode for IG, but thought I should remind you, especially if you haven’t started yet. I wish you all the best.

Cheers

TK

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