By James Woods, Senior Content Manager, Innovate By Day

We’ve all been on that video call. The one where we’re looking up at the presenter and have an excellent view of their ceiling.

Or the one where the video is fuzzy, or we can see the person but can’t hear them.

Or a town hall/presentation where the speaker is looking away from the camera because they’re reading their script on another screen.

As an audience member, how do you react to these situations?  How does it make you feel? Connected? Alienated? Disinterested? Do they instill confidence in their message? You may be so distracted by what’s happening (or not happening) on the screen that you stop following what they’re saying: instead, you begin to do other things, like return messages, multitask, or check out altogether.

Now imagine that that person—is you.

As of March 2021, 32% of Canadian workers were working most of their hours from a home office (Statista). 53% of Canadian households surveyed had at least one person working from home. Of those working from home, 29% want to continue to work remotely after the pandemic is over. Another 44% favour a hybrid work arrangement, where they work remotely some of the time (Angus Reid Institute). No matter what happens, we don’t expect video meetings will go away any time soon. Even in hybrid conditions, where a scheduled in-person meeting may have at least one person attending remotely, being able to present yourself well on video is an important part of your working life.

What can you do to remove these barriers from your video calls, virtual meetings, and presentations? You can start by talking to an expert—one who can help you enhance your ability to present yourself online.

At Innovate By Day, our team of visual storytellers is here to help you. We developed Virtual Presence Mastery in response to a need expressed by our clients. We’ll analyze your current setup and offer you tips on what you can do right away to improve your onscreen presence. From camera, lighting, and sound to styling your background, choosing your wardrobe, and positioning your equipment for great framing and maximum connection with your audience, we’ll guide you to a better video conferencing experience and answer your questions and concerns in a personalized, one-on-one session.

You’re a professional and you want people to see you as you are: confident and great at what you do. You know what you’re talking about—don’t let your home office and camera setup take away from your message.

Ready to step up your video conferencing game? Want to feel more in command of your image and style? We’re here to help. Book your private Virtual Presence Mastery session.

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James Woods is Innovate By Day’s oldest living social media specialist. He looks forward to one day having his Zoom setup reviewed on Twitter.

Photo by Compare Fibre on Unsplash