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How to Look Your Best Over Video Chat

Nowadays, thousands of people spend several hours a day in video chats. This can be video conferences, online meetings, or just unobtrusive communication in anonymous chat roulette. Naturally, in any situation, you want to look attractive. And it really isn’t that difficult to achieve.

In this article, we’ll tell you how to look attractive during a video chat and what to consider. Let’s talk about the technical part and your personal one. It will be interesting.

Camera location and lighting

The optimal position of the webcam is at eye level or slightly above. You shall not look at the other person from the bottom up or vice versa. If your camera is mounted on a computer monitor, the position is usually correct. A laptop camera is not always positioned properly, as it can be much lower than eye level. In order not to cause discomfort to the interlocutor, it is better to put it, for example, on a box and slightly tilt the screen towards you. Or you can lower the chair for a few centimeters, if possible. Well, if you are communicating through a smartphone camera, use a mobile tripod to secure it. Otherwise, a long conversation will turn into hell for your hands.

A few tips on lighting:

  • During the day, it is better to sit indoors, facing the window, moving closer to it. Natural light is almost always better than artificial light.
  • During the evening, you can place the lamp slightly behind the monitor. You can move it slightly to the left or right if you have a so-called “working side”.
  • To make the light fall evenly on the face and avoid harsh shadows, you can cover the table with a light tablecloth or use a sheet of white paper.

By the way, pay attention to the lighting behind you. It shouldn’t be too bright. The webcam optics don’t work perfectly. Most likely, it will start adjusting to bright objects, and your face will become too dark in contrast.

A good camera is the key to success

If you have an inexpensive or old laptop, most likely the in-built camera and microphone are not perfect. And this can significantly spoil the impression during a conversation with you. Therefore, sometimes it is better to use an external webcam for video chat.

Camera tips:

  1. The number of megapixels should be at least five. Older webcams have 1.3-2.0 Mp modules. But this is frankly not enough. Especially if your interlocutor has a large Full HD or 4K monitor.
  2. Autofocus is automatic. Using the camera without focusing or with manual focus is inconvenient. And if in the course of a conversation you often move or move away and back up, you absolutely need autofocus.
  3. Good microphone + noise reduction. It is better to check this aspect in advance or at least read the reviews on the Internet. Poor audio is sometimes worse than poor video quality. Alternatively, you can use good headphones with a built-in microphone.

By the way, if you often chat in web chats in the evening, you can consider webcams with built-in lighting. But this is usually overkill. Light aiming “on the forehead” is frankly not the best solution.

What about makeup?

Girls pay special attention to their appearance. Therefore, there are also some useful tips for them. The main rule is not to forget that make-up for everyday life and for communication in video chat are two slightly different things.

  1. Prevent glare on the skin. To do this, you need to apply additional 1-2 layers of powder compared to everyday makeup. Areas that are too problematic can be blotted with a matting napkin.
  2. The face may appear slightly flat in direct light. It’s easy to fix. Just apply a bit of highlighter to your cheekbones.
  3. The optimal make-up includes neat arrows and mascara. Do not do smokey eyes and light shadows. The former will turn you into a panda in the video, while the latter will simply “erase” your eyes.

Remember that the camera almost always eats up the color a little. Therefore, bright lipstick and generally saturated colors in the makeup are quite a good option. You can even overdo it a little.

Proper clothes

It is best to wear dark-colored outfits for video communication. In this case, your face will look brighter, fresher, and more natural. Conversely, light-colored clothing makes your skin paler, even adding unpleasant redness on some cameras. This is partly due to the peculiarities of the cameras’ optics, which are not ideal.

Again, the rule of “eating” the color works here. Therefore, you can even wear rather bright and contrasting outfits. But don’t overdo it. Otherwise, your clothes will only distract the interlocutor. You definitely don’t need that.

Posture and behavior

Try to perceive web chat or casual video chat as a live conversation. Imagine that the other person is right in front of you. This will keep you from overly imposing or, conversely, constrained and unnatural poses. Keep your back straight. This not only looks more aesthetically pleasing, but also gives more confidence.

If the service you are using allows you to minimize your image on the screen and see only the interlocutor, use it. Otherwise, you will be constantly tempted to look at yourself. It interferes with the conversation.

Many services, such as Skype, allow you to enable screen sharing. If you plan to use this function, close all personal tabs in advance, clean the desktop, etc. Your interlocutor should not see anything unnecessary.

Neat room

When chatting on a webcam, many people forget that the interlocutor can see not only you. Turn on the camera in advance and see what is in the frame. It may be worth cleaning the clutter away in the room. You don’t want to look sloppy in the eyes of your interlocutor, do you?

Another important point is any confidential and personal information. Put the phone face down so that the interlocutor does not see incoming messages and is not distracted by the flashing screen. Also, there should be no documents, credit cards, and such in front of the camera. Remember the basic rules for safe online communication. And, generally, the less unnecessary stuff gets into the frame, the better it will be.

Source: CooMeet chat.