Quick Tips for Your Next Online Meeting

Online meetings have become more and more popular nowadays, which makes a lot of sense as we continue to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

In my opinion, this is something that we should all become familiar with, regardless of our current physical limitations.

I’ve had my fair share of online meetings in the past few weeks and have compiled some quick, yet effective tips to upgrade your video-conferencing game.

Whether it’s for an upcoming interview, an online date, or a regular video chat with your friends, I hope these tips serve you well!

1) Find your perfect angle

If you’ve ever taken a selfie, you’ll know that different angles have the potential to completely change the way you look.

For me personally, having the camera directly in front of me at eye level is always a safe option.

If you are in need of some camera elevation, try using a couple of your old textbooks, or any shoeboxes you might have lying around!

Make full use of your textbooks!

2) Face a light source

Being in a dark environment during an online meeting is something you should definitely avoid. Based on the light sensitivity of your camera, it can often lower the quality and sometimes gives off a creepy look.

Ideally, you want to get some nice, natural lighting by sitting in front of a window. If it’s already dark outside, facing some sort of artificial source of light can be good too. However, try to avoid having lights behind you as this might produce some uncomfortable glares for the other members of your meeting.

3) Move the person you are talking to closer to the camera

Remember, making eye contact during an online meeting means you would have to be looking directly at the camera as you speak.

For most people, this is extremely unnatural as you are likely looking at the person who you are talking to on your screen. Therefore, one way to give the perception of eye contact is to move your application window higher on your screen, towards your camera.

This is especially important if you are wanting to be more intimate with the people you are interacting with.

4) Familiarize yourself with the online platform you will be using

Although the general concepts of video chatting platforms are all the same, they all have their unique, technical differences. Furthermore, there may be some useful tools when using these applications that typically require some searching to find.

Make sure you do your research, especially if you are using the platform for the first time. This will minimize the possibility of any potential technical difficulties, which is extremely important for something like an online job interview.

Before:

Before

After!

After!