Usually, when I come into a Zoom room, it takes me a second to turn on my camera and unmute, and I’m never sure when the other person’s audio has connected, so there’s sometimes a few seconds of awkward silence. But this is never the case during meetings with John Chen, who spins some tunes🎶 at the start and end of each meeting.

Whether it is a presentation he’s giving to many or a one-on-one chat with just me, John, author of Engaging Virtual Meetings, adds this delightful little touch that makes his meetings memorable. His selections of upbeat music set the tone for a wonderful conversation, and I have noticed makes the rest of my day just a little bit happier.

And how long does it take John to do this? I don’t know for sure, but I suspect just a few extra seconds to push the button. 

You might think the engaging tactic that takes very little time is a 🦄, but my guess is there are many opportunities for engagement that take little to no extra time.

We always have more ideas than time in the day to get them done, so let’s try to uncover as many no/low-time engagement tactics as we can. I’ll keep thinking of, finding, and experimenting with ideas like these. In the meantime, here are a few to get you started.

1) Start virtual meetings with some royalty-free tunes, or explore an ASCAP license.

2) Take a few extra seconds to warmly welcome new members when you call them.

3) When writing emails, craft them with a happy tone.

4) Start a meeting with a good icebreaker.

5) When you hand attendees their badge, program, and lanyard, give them a genuine smile too.

What engagement ideas can you think of that take little to no extra time? Please share your thoughts with the community. Click into this Jamboard and add a Post-It or Post-its (the more ideas, the merrier) with your idea(s).