Use of the webcam

Suddenly you are in all kinds of digital meetings and you have to talk to your webcam. How do you ensure that you remain personal in an impersonal, digital environment? How can you convey your message effectively to a camera?

It has actually never been more important to communicate digitally. The good news: this is very possible with video! You can make eye contact, see expression and body language, and hear the tone of voice. In this video I give you some very practical tips to ensure that you convey your message properly via the webcam in a virtual meeting.

Place the webcam at eye level

When the webcam is low, you look down on the viewers – and when the camera is higher, everyone else looks down on you. With a webcam in a laptop, the camera is often lower. You can solve that by simply placing some books under your laptop.

Look into the camera lens, not at yourself!

It may be a little crazy, but try looking into the camera lens when you're speaking. When you look at yourself or your screen, you look past the camera lens - and therefore do not make eye contact with the rest.

A practical tip: stick a sticker or arrow next to the lens to remind yourself of this.

Provide good light

Make sure the light falls on your face so everyone can see your eyes and expression. Can you sit near a window? Then do not sit with your back to the window, but rather with your face towards the window. No windows? In any case, do not sit directly under a bright lamp, rather place a lamp in front of your face (make sure that the light falls on your face).

Sit close to the webcam

Many people 'automatically' sit too far away from the webcam. Don't be afraid to sit a little closer to the camera. You often see people depicted small on the screen, so the further away you sit from the camera, the smaller you become on the screen. So make it a little more personal by sitting closer to the camera.

Make sure you have good audio

Make sure you have good audio. It is annoying to have to make a lot of effort to understand someone. So don't sit in a room with reverberation, and if possible: put on a headset. Then all background noises are automatically filtered.

Talk in rounds

And my last tip: make sure you talk in rounds. Then everyone gets to speak once and they don't talk over each other. And if you're not speaking, mute yourself. Only turn on your microphone when you are actually speaking. Then no one will be bothered by background noise.

What are your practical tips for virtual meetings?