1. Lighting
There probably is no more significant aspect to looking beneficial on camera than lighting. One of the biggest mistakes people make is sitting in presence of a bright window, which has the effect of causing the television camera to underexpose and create a dark silhouette. If you need a little avail with your light, there are plenty of tools designed merely for television meetings, like the Lume Cube Air VC Lighting Kit, which attaches to your display or laptop and gives batch of light to help you look your best.
2. Background
Of course, brilliantly light behind you is n’t the only background emergence you should pay attention to. If you have video recording meetings on a regular basis ( like I do ), it ‘s worth having a give space, so you can be designed about what people see behind you. Of course, not everyone has that luxury. The good news is that if you use a cock like Zoom or Microsoft Teams, you can set a customs background that hides everything behind you.
3. Positioning
Let ‘s be honest, up the nose is not the best angle for anyone. alternatively, your best bet is to have the camera at a acme that it can be angled fair slenderly down at you. Think about the television camera as being right at your hairline, and have it pointed down at your eyes. Nothing besides extreme, but enough to give you the most flattering fish of view.
While we ‘re talking about placement, you besides do n’t want to be besides cheeseparing to the television camera, or you end up with a contort face. You may besides want to make sure that your camera is n’t set to a wide lean, since that has the same effect.
4. Camera
Speaking of camera, the one built into your laptop ( particularly if it happens to be a MacBook ) is pretty much debris. That 720p television camera was top-of-the-line back in like, 2010. now, it ‘s reasonably sad truly. Do yourself a prefer and get something higher choice, particularly if you spend a distribute of time on camera. I ‘m a fan of the Logitech 4K Pro Webcam, which sits correctly atop my external display and can be adjusted.
5. Headphones
While it ‘s not technically about how you look, how you sound is about as significant. A microphone or good pair of headphones can make a big remainder, particularly when it comes to reducing background make noise. I like the Apple AirPods Pro, but honestly, even a simple match of electrify auricle buds will give you better sound than the built-in microphone in your laptop.
Bonus: Touch up your appearance
This feels like a good time to remind you that Zoom actually has a feature built in, specifically for the determination of making you look better. In the Zoom background app, there ‘s a “ touch up my appearance ” option that applies some skin smooth. It ‘s not perfect, but I know enough of people who like the fact that it covers up blemishes and gives them a little more of a “ ready for primetime ” look. By the way, that feature works better with better ignite. I told you it all comes down to lighting .