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Although face-to-face meetings are the standard when it comes to conducting business, virtual meetings are quickly becoming more popular. Virtual meetings are extremely convenient, but can be challenging if you don’t take certain factors into consideration.

Etiquette is vital to most meetings, and it’s no different with those of the virtual variety. This may seem rather obvious, but many people think they can be more informal during virtual meetings – and that isn’t always the case.

Below you will find several additional tips that can help your virtual meetings go more smoothly.

1. Be prepared

Preparedness is key when it comes to professionalism and helping a meeting run smoothly. When you’re gathering the content and resources for a virtual meeting, you should be sure to remember your audience – something that’s not quite as easy during a virtual meeting.

You also want to make sure that you have given everyone the details they need to access the meeting, such as passwords, URLs or call-in numbers. You certainly do not want to be left with no attendees because people could not access the meeting.

2. Engage participants

Although it may seem normal to jump right into the presentation, taking a moment to introduce participants can go a long way. This helps build relationships, and makes the meeting feel less rushed.

Although it may seem cliché, having everyone give a little information about themselves, like their favorite food, or the high point of their weekend, could be a great icebreaker. It allows everyone to see the other participants as more than just a face on a computer screen.

3. No side conversations

Although it may be tempting to hold side conversations when you’re not the one on screen, it can seem unprofessional and is often very distracting. Since virtual meetings often don’t hold people’s attention as well as face-to-face meetings, the last thing you want is to distract people from the task at hand.

These are just a few of many tips for conducting virtual meetings. If you’d like to check out even more tips, take a look at this Inc. article.