5 Steps to Master Video Conferencing

As the world has gone crazy overnight, it has also gone to video meetings by day, which may not be a bad thing, if we follow simple steps. Here are tips to pull it off.

1. Set Your Camera at Eye Level or Slightly Above.
   • Do you ever see TV news hosts with the camera looking up their nose? Uhhh, nope.
   • Ever want that double chin to be shown to the world? No, again.
   • Position your camera and yourself so it is looking at you as close to eye level as you can get. That’s the best position for the world to see your smiling face.
2. Use a Decent Microphone.
   • Test it with someone before going live.
   • Sometimes the built-in microphone works; sometimes it sounds hollow
   • Hard-wired earbuds work great
   • Professional microphones bought online (check reviews) can work wonderfully.
   • The point is you want to not have audio glitches or sound muffled.
3. Frame Your Background.
   • Test the framing before the ZOOM, Skype, FaceTime or Hangout.
   • Make it look neat, orderly and professional.
   • Buy a foldable screen to place behind you. (Just like Hollywood without the smog!)
   • The point is to not have your background distract the audience or detract.
4. Do a Test Rehearsal.
   • All the great movies – any movie for that matter – tests equipment before going live.
   • Until you’ve done this 20 times (and we all may have passed that mark by now), ensure you have your equipment down.
   • Test your screen share ability so when you need to share your slides, they are there.
5. Be Mindful of You On-Camera.
   • Look Into the Camera Lens When Speaking
     • The tendency is to look at others’ faces, but that looks to them like you’re looking down or to the side.
     • Remember, just like the TV hosts, looking into the camera is looking at the audience.
   • Wear something presentable. In this day of video framing, that’s all they really see, which means that is defining what you are to them.

With these simple steps, my clients are much more confident in their video conferences. I hope you will be, too. See you on-screen! For more info, email me: tim@candidcom.com.