How many times have you glanced down to view yourself on a webcam interview, conference call, or chat and thought, wow that’s terrible!
This has become a more prevalent way of doing business and communicating while during this time of quarantine. By default a webcam isn’t very flattering so we want to provide a few tips on how you can look a little bit better on camera!
Meet Your Eye-line
When you are talking to someone in person odds are, unless you’re an NBA player, you’re not looking down on them. Unless you are paying attention to the angle and level of your laptop that’s how you’re coming across.
Luckily this can be fixed with a few things found around your house. One of the best options is to use books. Keep stacking until you’re eye-line meets the camera.
Frame It Up
Now that your eye-line is good it’s time to focus on the space. Give yourself about an arm’s length from the camera. Position yourself to leave a little room from the top of the screen to the top of your hair.
Now let’s pay attention to your background. Don’t worry you don’t have to clean your house or room before every call, just get it out of frame. No one will ever know. What’s on the camera will look great.
Lighting Is Key
Now let’s focus on lighting. You’ll want to get near natural lighting if possible. If you can get to a window, great! Always be sure to place the window in front of you, or where the light from it is shining on your face, not your back. This keeps you well lit and preventing you from looking like a shadowy figure lurking in the chat.
A Few Final Thoughts
So you’ve gotten your webcam up to eye level, you’ve got some things out sight and framed yourself, and you’ve got your lighting all set. Some final tips are to make sure you are well contrasted with your background. You see here the green shirt starts to meld into the background. Consider changing your outfit to help with that.
Finally consider your audio. Are you in a quiet space? If not, you may want to consider headphones that have a built-in microphone.
Above all remember this is making a video, and being creative in any sense is supposed to be fun. Happy video conferencing!
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