Looking Good on Video Calls: Put Your Best Face Forward

Here are a few things to think about before you get on your next video call.

To a certain extent, how we are evaluated is influenced by our appearance. Recognizing that most business today is cutting edge, or they want to be perceived as such. Your clothing, hairstyle, and eyewear should all be relevant to the times.  It’s important to keep your look in sync with your industry’s ideology.  If your look is behind the times, it’s only natural for your colleagues to wonder if your work is also.

You are seen as a portrait on your viewer’s screen.  For a most professional look, style yourself simple and stick with least distracting minimal prints or solid colors to keep the focus on your contribution to the call.  Set aside your camera-ready wardrobe so it’s easy to dress because when it’s your turn to speak, the spotlight is on you.

Fundamentally, video calls create an eye level connection.  Your face is the first point of focus.  Besides looking groomed your eyewear takes center-stage.  A good-looking pair of computer readers can really work magic; making even the simplest look show as stylishly put-together.  T-shirt, turtleneck sweater, button down and even the hoodie will take on a completely different look when paired with a trend-relevant computer reading style.  I strongly recommend leaving your computer readers at your remote work location.  Eyewear that is scratched, crooked or worn is center focus on your viewer’s screen.

According to researchers getting dressed makes us feel good and puts us in a professional mindset thereby creating a certain level of focus and productivity.  Psychologists have coined the term “enclothed cognition” to describe how what we wear affects psychological processes.

Anti-glare and blue light blocking reading glasses even with clear lenses will capture a bluish, purplish, or yellowish hue at certain angles of reflected light.  To fix this adjust your light sources; angle them so they are above head height and be mindful to lower the angle of your chin slightly to alter the angle of reflection and maintain your eye-level connection.

The worry of missing out on important considerations or career advancements will always be a concern with less of an in-office presence. The one thing you can do that will reinforce your work ethic is to enhance your remote video presence and dress as if you’re showing up for a day in the office- or at least from the waist up. 

Renee
Licensed Optician
New York