How to zoom like a pro

The pandemic has forced people all around the world to work from home. Love it or hate it it’s here to stay for the time being. Many of us spent the first few months on Zoom and Teams calls with the familiar dialogue; ‘you’re on mute’, ‘can you turn your camera on?’ and more! We are offering and delivering remote recordings using the popular platforms on a weekly basis now and there are a few things you can do to make sure you look and sound your best; beyond making the software work. So here are your seven steps to video calling heaven! Read on and share if you think this might help others in your team.

1. Composing your screen

• Try to keep yourself in the middle of the screen.
• Keep your head height level with the camera.
• Avoid pointing the camera up or down at your face

2. Lighting

• If you can use a space with good natural light, and avoid direct sunlight where possible.
• Do not have the main light source behind you.
• Think about purchasing a low cost LED beauty light / ring light online.

3. Eye contact

• Not sure where to look? Try to appear to look towards the camera.
• Look directly at the camera to better engage the audience.

4. Wardrobe

• Avoid busy patterns. Solid colours are best.
• Try wearing clothing that contrasts with the background.
• Where smart / casual clothing or professional dress.

5. Noises and distractions

• Make sure your room is quiet and turn your phone to airplane mode.
• Turn off any applicants that might have audio alerts, for example email.
• Keep pets and other household members out of the room.
• If you have an external USB microphone then use one.

6. Device Support

• Do not shoot handheld! Rest or support the device / laptop / tablet. Make sure you shoot 16×9 and not in portrait mode.

7. Internet Connection

• Make sure you use a hard wired internet connection if possible. Wi-fi connections are not stable enough and can be laggy and lead to audio and video sync problems.