Lights, camera, action! Standing out on your Zoom needn’t be difficult. Distance meetings are here to stay and it is easy to get lost in the crowd as soon as 10 or more log on for the meeting.
The internet is full of funny videos and memes of colleagues accidentally setting amusing filters, family members wandering in half-dressed, and children bursting onto the screen unexpectedly during Zoom meetings.
While these Zoom slip-ups certainly got those people noticed, it was perhaps in not the way they had hoped for.
Standing out on Zoom is much harder than the traditional face-to-face boardroom meeting, so you’ll have to switch up your game a little to get the (positive) attention you need and deserve.
Get Zoom Savvy
Knowing the tech is the first rule of looking good on Zoom. Whether you use Zoom, Teams, or any other kind of communication software, get up to speed on all the functions and how to use them.
This helps you to avoid mistakenly setting your holiday photo as your background, and you can easily resolve the problem if you do – hopefully before anyone notices!
It also means that you can quickly share any last-minute information or on-the-spot presentations without taking up too much of your colleagues' time. Always a bonus and looks super impressive.
Be Well Groomed - Top to Bottom
Present yourself in a Zoom meeting the way you would in a face-to-face meeting. Be well dressed, and get dressed all the way down.
It may be more efficient and keep your pyjama bottoms on and just throw on a shirt on your top half, but what do you do if you do need to get up halfway through the meeting?
US Congressmen Donald Payne certainly turned heads during a Zoom meeting by accidentally flashing his boxer shorts to the House of Representatives when getting up to move.
While many people thought this was funny and the video quickly went viral, his colleagues and peers began to question his professionalism and suitability for the role.
You can avoid this by getting fully dressed for every meeting, and not being that person who gives their boss an unexpected flash of the leg while reaching over for their coffee cup.
Monitor Your Voice
It is always advisable to check that your microphone is working before every Zoom call, but understanding how your sound and how your voice comes across is entirely different.
Depending on the quality of your microphone, your voice will sound different on Zoom than in real life, so make a quick recording of yourself speaking to better understand how you sound and make adjustments accordingly.
You may need to project your voice more, enunciate your words more thoroughly and speak a little more slowly than you would in real-life meetings.
Also, do not assume that everyone has heard and understood you before you move on to your next point. Periodically ask ‘Did everyone get that?’ and give people opportunities to ask you to repeat certain points if necessary.
Don’t Hog the Virtual Stage
It can feel that time passes faster when on Zoom and it is easy to take up much more time than intended to get your point across.
Your colleagues will likely start to Zoom-Out after 10 minutes or so, so it is best to get to the point and keep your presentations are short as possible.
If you do need to deliver an extra-long presentation then break it up into segments and make it as engaging and interactive as possible.
Avoid walls of text, use visual aids like graphs, charts and pictures to demonstrate your point and stop regularly to ask your audience questions and give them time to provide feedback and comment throughout the presentation instead of waiting until the end.
Zoom also has a handy ‘raise-hand’ feature, but it can easily go ignored so always physically raise your hand close to your face so the speaker has an additional que that you have something to say.
Luminate Your Face with Lighting
It is easy to get lost in a sea of tiles when more than 10 or 15 people log onto the meeting. To ensure that you maintain a physical presence in the virtual space, set up your camera in a spot that has plenty of bright lighting.
Also, wear bright and airy colours that help your face stand out. Humans instinctively look at faces before they look at anything else in the shot. Make your face easy to find among the virtual crowd.
Here are some extra tips on getting your lighting right:
- Seek out natural light over artificial light
- Sit facing the light source
- If you must use artificial light, opt for cool tones
- Position the camera so it is directly opposite you or slightly above
- Dim for computer screen if you wear glasses to minimise refection
Hide Your Camera
Could you imagine meeting a friend for coffee and throughout your whole conversation they held a mirror up towards you?
Strange and distracting right?
Exactly. Having your camera on your screen is the virtual equivalent of this. Seeing yourself throughout your Zoom meeting can make you a little obsessed over how you look and you’ll make small adjustments to your hair and face while your work mates are trying to hold a conversation with you.
Instead of enjoying your input and engaging with you, your colleagues will be watching you groom yourself for an hour.
Not only that, you’ll end up talking to yourself instead of looking directly at the camera. Lack of eye contact, even on Zoom, makes the audience feel less engaged and more likely to lose focus quicker.
Last but not least, always remain professional and take your Zoom meeting as seriously as any other kind of work meeting. It's fine if you do not have fancy lights or a super-microphone that makes you sound like a Soprano.
Zoom has become a powerful tool for building spheres of influence both on and offline. Its valuable contribution to the workplace means that getting up to speed on how to use it and making sure you are prepared to Zoom-in to your next team meeting is quickly becoming an essential skill for most office-based work.
By following these simple tips, you can look good and impress your boss with even the most basic Zoom set-ups.
