Switch all heavy data users off. That includes Dropbox, Box, iCloud and those torrents that might run in the background. I have used tethering to my iPhone when I had a complete landline blackout 2 If you’re doing a talk during the day, your neighbors will also use the internet heavily, putting stress on the connection. Issues can arise from your internet connection not being up to the task. Position your head in the center of the frame, if possible with your eyes about a third from the top. Try to avoid having notes above the camera. It helps if your slides/notes are underneath the camera. If your computer displays a (green) light where the camera is, try to look at it as often as possible to have “eye-contact” with your audience. Try to look at the camera as much as possible. (And you don’t want to look like Two-Face, right?) Light from the side can lead to one half of your face almost dark while the other half is brightly lit. Light from behind you makes the camera overcorrect, so your face will be in the dark. Have as little light from behind you and from the sides. I have a daylight ceiling lamp that makes sure I have good lighting. (iPads and mobile phones are much better in that regard, but usually not suitable for many to do presentations on.) Make sure you have a bright light source in front of you. Lighting is important, especially as laptops have mediocre cameras. Finally, turning your head can lead to your nose looking cut off. The edges of the top of a high-back chair can glitch in and out the background even if you only move a bit. If you wave around your hands while talking, your arms might look cut off with a virtual background. Make sure to not have “virtual background dismemberment” happen during your talk. A picture of a forest might be better than your corporate colors displayed behind you. Backgrounds with solid colors have been more problematic. When using virtual backgrounds, I have seen fewer artifacts with photos that contain a lot of details. (And that also includes socio-economic reasons for not showing one’s living conditions.) If there is no suitable place to hold the presentation, virtual backgrounds are an excellent alternative. That said, I have my office carved out to support the “talk to the computer” use case. On videos I strongly prefer my real environment from those virtual backgrounds that are so en vogue these days. If you have a good microphone, Zoom gives you the option to send out non-processed audio in the settings. Keep in mind that there is a brief delay with wireless options on top of the delay from the internet connection. I use a wired connection to my Mac to do my talks, but Bluetooth headsets or AirPods might work for your use case, too. But the wired headset included with your mobile should also work well. You can do that with a headset or a table/podcasting microphone. (But try it out beforehand!) It is very important to bring the microphone as close to your mouth as possible. You can use many laptops’ built-in microphones for your presentation. That’s much more reliable when they are in or on your ears. You want to understand audience questions or your moderator. I have seen guidance that headphones look amateurish, but that is not true from my point of view. If you’re hard to understand or if there’s a constant noise from your line, attendees might not be able to follow you.Īlways use headphones. That said, clear, intelligible sound is much more important than everything else. Zoom compresses the sound in meetings to send it to attendees more, so investing into sound gear should not be the highest priority. Here are some tips I have gathered from doing online Zoom talks since 2015.
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