Tips to increase your 'presence' over video

Recently, I facilitated an online workshop for a remote team that often participates in and leads meetings via Zoom. Other members of the team are together in a conference room and they float over the conference table on a 60 inch flatscreen. It's weird. And it's the new normal.

The workshop was ostensibly about public speaking and facilitation skills. We ended up spending a fair bit of time on how to optimize ‘leadership presence’ when working over webcam. Since then, I’ve participated in a few webinars and have been floored by how awful many of us are at working with the vocabulary of camera presence.

In other words: being in a room with people is vastly different than relating over webcam. Body language works differently, facial expressions may be highlighted, etc. and so on. 

Here are some things to keep in mind for your next webinar or zoom conference, particularly if you are the facilitator:

• Lighting: Either sit facing a window or invest in a light source. Ring lights can be had for less than $30. There’s nothing like being backlit or half-shadowed to immediately decrease your level of presence in an online meeting. Also, it’s annoying.
  
  
  
• Sound: Test your sound. Sometimes a headset mic won’t cut it and your laptop speaker definitely won’t. Ever. If you’re in a place with a ton of background noise, ask yourself if that’s appropriate for the call. I’ve sat on webinars where the facilitator is clearly in a cafe. I last about 5 minutes, then leave.
  
  
  
• Background: It matters. Other people on the call or webinar participants aren’t just seeing your face. They’re seeing a whole scene. What story does your background tell? If you’re using Zoom or Microsoft, they have options to layer in backdrops or blur the background that might be fun to play with.
  
  
  
• Camera Angle and Eye-line: Generally, the best camera angle is looking slightly up at your face or straight on. No one wants to look up your nose! If possible, it’s also best to place the webcam directly above the part of the screen you’ll be looking at. That way, you can look at the screen and it will appear as though you are looking straight at the camera. This can help approximate ‘eye contact’ for viewers. In a conference room, sadly, you have zero control over this and will likely look like a hobbit because the camera is tilted down at you.
  
  
  
• Facial Expressions: A webcam emphasizes facial micro-expressions, especially if you’re on a large monitor or flatscreen. Those eye rolls that you think are subtle (and which might, in fact, be subtle in person) can be glaringly obvious on screen. 
  

Video conferencing has dramatically expanded the geographic reach of  meetings, webinars, and workshops. It has also introduced a new set of tools and variables when it comes to conveying a sense of presence, participation, leadership, and authority. When well applied, many of these tools and techniques will be invisible to everyone else on the call, but their impact will be felt.

I’d love to hear about your experiences working over video. What have you noticed? What works for you? What doesn’t?

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