Find a quiet room with very little or no background noise. Having a quiet location is just as important as a good microphone. Following the below steps will also help mitigate issues if you find yourself in a noisy location.
Sit in the center of the camera shot at a 90 degree angle for proper framing. This is also the optimal viewing angle for everyone on the call. Laptop pedestals are available you if are having trouble finding a way to elevate your laptop.
Lighting is everything. Use as much as possible. Consider purchasing an aftermarket camera light if you find your home or office video location is too dark.
Do not sit with windows behind you. The camera will auto adjust its iris on windows causing your face to become dark. This is a big problem with cheaper webcams and low model built in laptop cameras.
Be aware of what is in your camera shot. Don’t let anything get in the shot that you don’t want everyone to see.
Use headphones to listen to audio. This will ensure better audio quality for everyone on the call and minimize audio leaking back into microphone causing feedback or “echo”.
If your headphones have a microphone, use it. These mics such as the ones that come with an iPhone are usually better than the ones built into your camera or computer screen. Built in cameras on laptops can easily pickup fan noise and other electronic sounds due to it’s close proximity to the machine.
Keep your microphone muted during the call unless you are speaking. This is just courtesy and prevents the unnecessary noises from entering the call. This is also a must if you are not using headphones while joining the call.
Hardwired internet connection will insure you have the speed and bandwidth you need. Although WiFi is perfectly capable of handling video conferencing it’s always nice to have the stability if introducing other forms of media such as screen share and videos.
Perform a test connection BEFORE the meeting starts.
