One of the most prevalent fears in the human race is the fear of public speaking. Something about standing up in front of a group of strangers - or even friends and family members - strikes a chord of apprehension in us that is very difficult to overcome. For some, picturing the audience without any clothes sometimes helps, for others necessity is the only thing that will get them up on that stage. With video conferencing, you have the best of both worlds. You can be viewed by a large number people, all while you sit comfortably in your office or home.

Getting over, or controlling, fear of public speaking requires time, patience, and practice. One technique that helps is to make sure to take deep breaths before, during, and after a speech. Another technique is to practice by speaking in front of two people, then three, then ten, and so forth.

Using video conferencing by itself or in conjunction with the above is a great technique as well. During a video conference, you can have the option of showing all of your participants in little window, a few people, one person, or even just yourself. Increasing or decreasing the number of people who you actually see can be adjusted to your comfort level.

As you probably know, the worst part of a speech is the beginning. You are nervous and the crowd is cold. As you begin to speak, use your icebreakers, and grow accustomed to being up there, your confidence level increases and you begin to forget that you are afraid. Using a video conference allows you to start with one person and add people as you become more confident.

Remember, it's natural to feel anxious about public speaking and it can be overcome. All you need is patience, practice, and some video conference time.

At the bottom of the communication technological ladder is two tin cans and a string. At the top is a multi-point video conference webinar. Somewhere in the middle is chat – also called instant messaging. So how would stepping down several rungs help your video conference, even while using the best technology available? Well, by itself, using chat would be a downgrade. However, you can use it to enhance your video conference and make your meeting run that much better.

A good, basic meeting habit is recapping your agenda as you progress through the meeting. So after a speaker has finished his piece, or everyone has returned from a break, it's a good idea to briefly go over the main points of the rest of the meeting. Not only does this help to announce the next segment, it also keeps your audience orientated and better able to concentrate on the meeting.

During a video conference, especially if you are sharing PowerPoint or some other application, there are a lot of potential distractions. One way to keep your participants in the loop is to use the chat window. All you have to do is send a chat message that says where you are on the agenda. Then, if your participants ever get lost, they can easily see where the meeting is at.

Another good use of the chat window is for Q&A. Normally it's best to save all questions for the end of the meeting because they have the possibility of being answered by subsequent parts of the presentation. If they don't however, this can make for a long Q&A session at the end; possibly longer than time was budgeted for. One solution is to encourage your participants to use the chat window for questions and comments throughout the meeting. This unobtrusive impromptu Q&A will not disrupt the meeting, but the speaker will see the questions. Then, if he knows that he won't cover the answer later, he can easily work it into his presentation.

These are just two ideas for different uses for the chat window. What interesting solutions using chat have you come up with?

A video conference is a wonderful tool to save money, or quickly and easily bring far flung employees together on a regular basis. At its most basic, all you need is for everyone to have a computer, a webcam, and internet connection. That is the minimum, but you probably want to have a great video conference, not just a mediocre one. Here are some tips to make that happen.

You and your participants should watch their backs, literally. What will people see behind you during the video conference? If you have lower bandwidth, a neutral background is best. Other than that, try not to have a lot of clutter in view. You want your people to look at you, not at what's behind you.

When they look at you, what do they see? Dressing for the occasion is important for a video conference. Even if you are at home, for a business conference, you should look professional. During the call, sit with good posture and maintain eye contact with your webcam lens. It gives a sincere and personable appearance.

During the conference, utilize all the features of your video service. If you have them available, put out polls to get current input, or throw up a graph, chart, or graphic. Remember that there is a lot of activity on your participant's screens, so make the visuals Spartan, with large text.

The key part of a video conference is that it is visual. Act like you would in a meeting room. Gesture with your hands, or hold up a report. Hold a ball while you're talking and when it's time for someone else to talk, name that person and toss your ball off screen. They should pick up their own ball and hold it while they speak. This is a great attention grabber, but also serves to designate whose turn it is to talk. Of course, you need to make sure that all the speakers have a ball.

Finally, there is nothing that can guarantee a good video conference more than a quick practice run. This is the time to trip over all of the technological bugs and snafus. It also gives you a chance to familiarize yourself with the controls and features. When the time comes for the real conference, you'll be ready!