Tips for hosting a good-looking and sounding Zoom meeting

Get the most from your Zoom meetings with these best practice tips below:

• First, pick a location where you will be able to concentrate on your meeting. Pick a location with limited intrusions and distractions. If you have pets, plan they will try to walk across your keyboard or want your undivided attention while you are trying to present content or listen to responses.  
• Unless your appearance or background is very inappropriate or distracting, turn ON your video. Video is crucial in building trust and engagement in virtual communications. Don’t skip this step just because you don’t love the way your hair looks today.
• The position of your computer in the room can make a difference in the look and sound of your presentation.
  • Avoid placing the computer so that the camera is pointed toward a strong light source, such as a window or bright lamp in the background. Having a strong light source behind you pointed toward the camera will cause your image to darken and be difficult to view unless you add more light in the foreground to light your face. This can be done, but remember, the sun is very bright and overcoming that light source with electric light will take a lot of watts. It is a better strategy to position yourself so that available light illuminates your face and does not cause you eye strain. 
  • If your room is dark and there is no available natural light, you will look much better during your presentation if you increase the light level on your face. Your viewers are interested in what you have to say. Seeing a clearly visible face is less strain to your viewers. A light source as simple as a desk lamp will work wonders to improve the image quality.  
  • Avoid placing your computer/webcam near air conditioning vents, ceiling fans, and open windows. The online collaboration applications have sound processing built-in to the software, but choosing a location with avoiding extraneous sounds will make your meeting sound better without the need for additional processing.
  • Angle your camera at eye level, this best simulates real-world conversation. A camera angle from below looks too ominous, while a too-high angle may diminish you.
• Look at the camera. This takes a bit of getting used to since you want to look at the other participants' faces, but try to look at the camera when you’re talking. This tactic will mimic the in-person feeling of eye contact. It’s important to gauge reactions by looking at the screen, but alternating that with looking at the camera makes the audience feel like you’re really talking to them.
• Most webcams, laptops, tablets, and cellphones have built-in microphones. While this microphone will pick up your voice adequately, the use of an external microphone that can be positioned close to your mouth, will improve the sound of your voice and reduce the influence of external noise sources.  When possible, try to use a good quality camera and headset instead of your computer’s built-in ones. Zoom works just fine with the built-ins, but the quality is even sharper with higher quality hardware.
• Finally, test your video and audio before your meeting at zoom.us/test.