Eye contact is an important communication skill when collaborating remotely or meeting with someone.
While using Zoom, especially in an interview, you must know how to maintain eye contact to ensure you appear confident and presentable. Today’s post focuses on helping you make eye contact on Zoom.
The first step is to ensure you are in a good posture. Sit upright and place your device at a slightly raised angle above eye level. If using a desk, you can place something like a book below the computer to give it a raised stand. While talking, ensure you look straight at the camera. Moreover, sit facing the camera at a slight distance from your desk. During the meeting, focus on looking at the camera instead of the video on your computer.
This article covers the benefits of maintaining eye contact while on Zoom. Moreover, we will see how best to ensure you maintain eye contact while using Zoom and mention other tips that help with creating a presentable Zoom experience.
Why Maintain Eye Contact on Zoom?
Zoom is a videoconferencing platform individuals use to connect with their remote friends. With Zoom, the host must create a meeting and share its link for others to join. Maintaining eye contact is essential when attending a Zoom session or interview.
Eye contact is one way of showing you are focused and attentive to the speaker. Moreover, maintaining eye contact shows confidence in what you are discussing. For instance, in an interview, eye contact will ensure you appear presentable and increase your chances of passing the interview.
When the speaker maintains eye contact, participants will likely pay more attention to you as they will feel like you are looking them straight in the eye. Ideally, maintaining eye contact is one of the good etiquettes of effective communication.
How To Make Eye Contact on Zoom
When attending a Zoom session, many participants fail to maintain eye contact. Most of them focus on watching the video feed of other participants and forget to keep eye level with their webcam.
One fact to note is that your focus shouldn’t be on other participants in a Zoom session. If you do so, you appear to look down instead of maintaining eye contact. Some may presume you are shy of the camera, yet you don’t realize you are looking down.
To avoid this embarrassing situation, follow the below tips.
Get a Good Posture
How you position yourself affects your eye contact on Zoom. Sit in a comfortable chair and place your computer on a desk. That way, you will face it head-on, which will go a long way in maintaining eye contact.
Keep a Slight Distance
Between you and the desk, you should maintain a slight distance. That way, you won’t appear too close to the webcam.
Moreover, this distance will let you show your shoulders and allow you to look slightly at the camera to maintain eye contact.
Place Your Device Slightly Above Eye-Level
Your computer should be slightly raised above the ground to achieve the best eye contact. You can place a book below the laptop to keep it raised.
To maintain eye contact during a Zoom call, it’s important to raise your webcam slightly above your eye level and look directly into it. Doing so will ensure that your eyes are aligned with the camera and your gaze is directed toward the person on the other end of the call.
Focus on the Webcam
A common mistake is not looking at their webcam when on Zoom. Many people focus on viewing the video feeds of other participants in the Zoom session instead of focusing on their webcam. However, you should ensure your focus is on the webcam.
Although you don’t have to appear to be staring at it fully, you should try focusing on it while shifting your focus periodically.
Other Tips for Creating a Presentable Zoom Experience
When using Zoom, you aim to create a presentable session so that other participants can see your video feed. A few tips will come in handy in making the Zoom session presentable. They include the following.
- Ensure you are in a good environment where there is adequate lighting.
- Focus on finding a room that has minimal or no sound distractions.
- Dress presentably and avoid movements.
- Pay attention to the speaker, and only turn on your microphone when you want to speak.
- Join early and be interactive in the session.
Conclusion
When using Zoom, you can maintain eye contact by focusing on your webcam, maintaining a good posture, and placing your computer at a slight distance and in a slightly raised position. We’ve detailed everything about maintaining eye contact on Zoom.
