If we're having a voice-only phone call, I'll call you at the appointed time. I will assume that we are meeting on Zoom™ unless we have specifically designated a phone call or another video conferencing platform.
I'm also setup and prepared for the following formats: Vsee, Skype, Facebook Messenger, and Google Hangouts. I prefer Zoom for it's confidentiality/privacy terms.
Make Sure You have video capability from your computer, phone, or tablet.
It’s best if you have high speed internet access. If you don't have exceptionally high speed, you may need to make sure your family members or roommates aren’t streaming video online during your video session as it could disrupt our call quality. It may also help to close any other tabs open on your browser and turn off any other devices connected to your internet.
If you haven’t already, download the Zoom™ application (it’s free) from https://zoom.us/ You’ll find easy-to-follow promptings and instructions on their homepage.
A few minutes before our appointed time, I'll send you an invitation via email and through the Zoom application to join the call with me.
Click the link to join the call with me.
Follow the promptings and make sure to join the 'audio' for the call.
If you haven’t used video conferencing or Zoom™ before, I recommend, if you can, that you do a test run with a friend in advance of our session.
Be Ready For Our Call
1. Make sure you make space for yourself. Though I’ve had people contact me from places like their car, the bus or train, the bathroom, the mattress department of Bloomingdale's, and underneath their desk at work (yes, this has all really happened!), my sincere preference is that you are in a private location, free from interruption.
2. ‘Free from interruption’ means that:
No other person is sitting in the room or about to barge in and ask what’s for dinner
The television or radio is turned off
The loud fan or air conditioner isn’t running
Your mobile phone or telephone is muted and out of your texting view range
You won’t have a child crying like the sky fell to tell you that their brother is eating their crayons
Your large dogs aren’t in the room about to bark loudly at noises that no humans can hear
Yes. I’ve had all of that occur during sessions, too. Give yourself the gift of our time together. It’s for you. You’ll get the most out of it if you can be present and without distractions. It will help me, too.
3. If you can, give yourself at least 5 or 10 minutes to settle in before our call. Take a few breaths and settle yourself. Allow yourself to consider your positive intention for our session. Be available, at your computer and ready for our session at our scheduled session time. I’ll call you.
4. Make sure that the room you are in is quiet. Wear quality headphones if it’s not.
Video or Audio Only?
It’s up to you - partially. If for whatever reason we have a poor connection, we may not have a clear video option. The call may be dropped, interrupted or my favorite - one of our faces may appear on the other’s screen, frozen in a very unattractive pose. If that happens, we may have to switch to audio only.
Unless you request audio only, I’ll call you with video and you’ll answer the call. If you accidentally answer with audio only, as long as I have your voice and you can hear me, I can guide you to connect the video.
Some people prefer audio only, like a regular phone call. It’s okay with me.
If We Have a Video Call
If we get to have a video call, make sure that you have enough light in the room so that the camera can focus on you and I can see you. It also helps if you keep the background simple. Busy backgrounds (and shirts!) can cause the camera to try to render every line and disrupt the visual quality.
If you can, sit comfortably at a desk or table rather than using your phone or a laptop on your lap. This will help keep the camera stable and allow less pixilation.
Position yourself in the center of the camera. It’s usually recommended to look directly at the camera. I find that things work best if you look directly at me, on your screen. It helps us to feel more connected. If we can position so that we can see more than our faces, such as our upper body and hands, we can have more body language communication, which can help, depending on how fast your internet connection is - if it's very slow, moving your hands could disrupt the quality of the video.
Relax. I won’t record you. You’re not auditioning for mainstream television. Just be yourself.
If we have a tech issue that we can’t correct
This is partly why I recommend that you do a test run with a friend first to make sure you have good connection capability. If it’s because of your slow internet speed that our call is incomplete, I’ll still be charging you for the session.
If It’s because of some issue on my line or due to some weird force of nature (or aliens!) that our call connection is interrupted and our time is incomplete, I won’t charge you for any time that I’m not able to fully be of service to you. I may not be able to extend the time beyond the session time you’ve scheduled for that day, though I will make it up to you, either with future time, refund or credit.
Backup plans. I’ve experienced times when my computer stopped working though I could switch to an application on my phone and finish the call that way. It’s not ideal, though it works. You could also contact me by Google Voice (650) 918-6011, if you’re in the U.S., or Google Hangouts. My number in the U.K. is +44 (0) 7503 766 757.