Video Call 2

Is your video presence helping or hurting your professional image?
I was participating in a Zoom call the other day and was watching all the times the women were playing with their hair, flipping it, pushing it back, touching it, grooming it. It was quite interesting.

I was also observing how people seem to be quite comfortable during video calls in 2024, doing all sorts of things that you may want to think twice about when on video, even when the call is not recorded. There was one fellow in particular who periodically cracked his knuckles while unmuted throughout the call; he had various other gestures which I won’t recount here. It was rather embarrassing.

Eating and drinking while your camera and microphone are on is another example.

Maybe it’s just me. Perhaps I’m too sensitive.

I’m well aware these are normal, everyday human behaviours that we see all the time when attending in-person meetings, interacting with our colleagues at work, or just life in general.

But it’s my feeling that being on camera is different, and warrants a bit more attention.

Video Call

Love it or leave it, video calls are here to stay. I’m not going to discuss things like lighting, background, audio, or testing equipment prior to the meeting. I’m going a bit more granular.

Don’t be doomed by Zoom. Here are five things you may want to pay attention to while preparing for and participating in a video call.

1. Appropriate Appearance

Dressed for Video Conference
  • Make certain whatever portion of you that appears on camera is dressed and made up appropriately for the occasion.
  • If parts of you are not dressed for the meeting, turn off your camera before moving in a way that exposes those parts.

2. Put Out the Electronic and Physical “Do Not Disturb” Sign

  • Notify others in your work space that you are not to be disturbed for the duration of your call. And ask them to keep the noise down.
  • If your work space has a door, put a “Do Not Disturb” sticker or sign on it and close it.
  • Set your mobile on “Do Not Disturb.” If that raises your anxiety to unacceptable levels, at least set it to vibrations instead of rings, chimes, toots, or klaxons.
  • Turn off the notification sounds on your computer.
  • If you have a land line in your work space, set it on “Do Not Disturb.” If that isn’t possible, consider unplugging it.
Do Not Disturb

3. Minimize Distractions

Video Call Background
  • Try to be aware of your movements. Do you fidget? Are your hands or other visible parts of your body constantly in motion?
  • I’m not advocating being a stone, so completely motionless that flies are settling on you. But be aware.
  • Is your background appropriate? If it is too busy, messy, or downright ugly, consider using a virtual background, or simply blurring the background.

4. Eating and Drinking

  • Unless you are in some sort of marathon meeting, perhaps eating and drinking can be postponed until after the call.
  • If not, is it feasible to turn off your camera and mute yourself while you take a sip of beverage or a bite of food?
  • If you must drink or eat while your camera is on, perhaps using a straw would minimize the head-tip-with-bottom-of-vessel-in-the-viewers’-faces effect. And taking smaller bites of food to minimize the gaping-mouth effect.
  • Consider muting your microphone while actually slurping, swallowing, and masticating.
Beverage Drinker

5. Be Careful where You Take Your Viewers

Walking while on Video Call
  • I’m sure we’ve all had a good laugh at those videos of people taking their laptops or mobiles with them to inappropriate places in their homes, where we are treated to embarrassing activities, complete with video and audio.
  • Don’t to this. Better to briefly excuse yourself from the meeting.

Incorporate these five practices before signing in to your video call. You will make the call more pleasant for everyone, even if no one mentions your video and audio savvy.

Congratulations! You’re a video personality!

End Notes

Top image: Video Call | Photo credit © Jack Sparrow on Pexels.
Image 2: Video Call 2 | Photo credit © Diva Plavalaguna on Pexels.
Image 3: Dressed for Video Conference | Photo credit © Anna Shvets on Pexels.
Image 4: Do Not Disturb | Photo credit © T’Lara Joy Freedom.
Image 5: Video Call Background | Photo credit © August de Richelieu on Pexels.
Image 6: Beverage Drinker | Photo credit © Shannon Lawford on Pixabay.
Image 7: Walking while on Video Call | Photo credit © Surface on Unsplash.

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