ideo Conferencing: it’s all the rage these days. Many of us use it for business meetings, job interviews and more. So if you’re going to use it, you might as well crush it! A well executed video conference can make you look poised, professional and powerful, whereas a poorly executed one can make you look unprepared and unprofessional.

With that said, here are some ways to upgrade your video conferencing game:

1) Make sure your computer’s camera is at eye level. That is the most flattering and powerful look for you. We’ve all taken pictures where the camera is below us and we have to look down. Not a good look! You get that whole double chin thing happening. And if it’s above you, it doesn’t look all that great either. So make sure your camera is at eye level, even if you have to prop your computer up on something.

2) Lighting. This one is crucial, and requires some time to set it up properly. You don’t want to be too dark, too bright or covered in shadows. Ideally you want the main source of light behind the computer projecting towards you, and you can have other lights on each side of you to even out the hue. But every light, and every room, is different. So try different angles until you nail it.

3) Maintain eye contact with the lens. I know it is hard to do, but resist the temptation to look at yourself in the window on the corner of the computer screen. When you do that, you’re clearly not looking into the camera lens and, subsequently not looking into the eyes of the people on the other end of the call. Look straight into that camera to portray confidence.

4) Background. Super important! If the background of your shot is messy, or cluttered, or has something random going on, that can be really distracting. It also makes you appear disorganized. Keep your background simple and unobtrusive. But, don’t make it boring either. Pick a flattering color, or a cool piece of artwork, or a bookshelf. Something visually interesting, but not more visually interesting than you.

If you’d like to chat about this in more depth, or talk about your performance while on a video conference, you can contact me here. And then we can chat, via video conference 🙂

Have a great day,

Dave