Presenting Better Virtually

In our current virtual world, many of us are on back-to-back Zoom calls and are experiencing extreme Zoom fatigue. Pre-Covid, you would have walked from one meeting room to the next when you had back-to-back meetings. Now, you switch rooms with a click of the mouse, giving you no off-screen time. 

To counter this, schedule your meetings to end 5-10 minutes before the hour. Stand up, walk away from your computer, stretch, and grab a fresh cup of tea. 

There are plenty of days, I don’t want to turn on my camera, but it’s important for accessibility and camaraderie to do so. Want to make sure you look the best on camera? Here are a few simple steps:

1. Move your camera to eye height or above. For ergonomic reasons, your monitor should be at eye level anyway. You can buy a stand or just use a stack of books to raise your computer to the right height.
2. Make sure you are facing a window, not away from it. Backlighting makes it hard to view your face, and it will make the camera struggle to keep the exposure right.
3. Light your office (or the corner of your bedroom) with multiple lamps. Place them in front and on the right and left of you. If you have lamps that do not have a shade, have the light face a wall or the ceiling to bounce the light, creating a softer, diffused look.
4. Any microphone is typically better than your built-in one. Even the headphone/microphone combo you may have for your phone. If you are presenting a lot, consider investing in a lapel mic, which you can buy a decent one for $50.
5. Think about what is behind you. Sometimes your options are limited, but you can often find a corner of a room with a blank wall behind you. Look for places to set up that have light in front of you and a blank wall (or bookshelf) behind you.
6. Stand up when presenting webinars virtually. This allows you to use gestures more freely and project your voice better.
7. Combine these together and you’ll be looking a lot better on camera!

Upcoming workshops on how to make presentations more memorable and influential:  bit.ly/presworkshop