Video Conference Vocabulary in English

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems like everything happens online now. And that includes meetings! Video conferences have become ubiquitous (everywhere, common), and most of my meetings at work are now held online. As always, new things like this require (need) new vocabulary.

Here is some video conference vocabulary in English that you’re sure to need in the office, whether your meeting is hybrid or only online.

Hybrid

Hybrids aren’t just cars! A hybrid meeting is one that is held both online and in person. This can be done through a conference call system and large screen in a meeting room at an office. That way, people who work from home can attend, as well as people who are working from the office. Most of the meetings I attend now are hybrid meetings: some people are in the office, and some are at home. Hybrid video conferences are a great way for people with different working styles to get the same information.

For example:

• I set up a hybrid meeting for Thursday, because Jan is working from home that day, but I’ll be in the office.
• Please come into the office for your annual review. I find (think) it’s better to do them in person, rather than in a hybrid setup.

Mute

“You’re on mute!” This is a phrase I hear almost daily in meetings. Mute means that there’s no sound and that people can’t hear what you’re trying to say. When you’re trying to say something in a video conference, makes sure you’re not on mute so that people can hear your contribution (addition)!

For example:

• I had to mute my microphone when my doorbell rang so that people didn’t hear my conversation with the mailman.
• She keeps forgetting to mute herself during meetings, so we can hear all of her conversations with her kids and the music she has playing in the background.

Invitation

Just like a party (but less fun), video conferences require an invite to attend. An invitation is when you ask people to attend your meeting. To have a video conference, you have to send out an email with the link to join your meeting online. It’s also a good idea to tell people what the meeting will be about so that they come prepared. Have you sent an invitation to a video conference before?

For example:

• The link to the meeting should be in the invitation, but I’ll double check for you.
• If you don’t have this meeting in your calendar, let me know and I’ll send you the invitation.

Share screen

Often in online meetings, it’s a good idea to share your screen with other participants (people in the meeting) so that they can see what you see. You can share your screen, or showing people what’s on your screen in an online meeting, if you all need to look at the same document or presentation. On a lot of different meeting software, such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams, there’s a button that says “share screen” so that you can easily show people in the meeting what they need to see.

For example:

• I have the presentation up on my computer. Should I share my screen?
• Let me share my screen real quick. Then I can show you exactly what I’m talking about in the file.

How often do you have online meetings at work? What other video conferencing vocabulary do you use? Let us know!