Barrett

March 27, 2022

5 Easy Ways to Upgrade your Zoom Video

If you want to look and sound better during your next Zoom meeting, don’t forget these simple best practices to present yourself in the best possible light.

It’s been over two years since Zoom saved us from pandemic isolation. Sort of. Yes, Zoom and other video conferencing platforms have been lifelines to our outside world over these many months. As life is evolving to a new normal, ‘hybrid’ is now clearly a part of that equation. That means the need to Zoom isn’t going away.

As remarkable as Zoom has been, I think everyone is exhausted. We’re cranky. We may know how to do a good Zoom. But we don’t want to. No. We don’t want to make that extra effort. Not anymore.

If you can hear my voice on Zoom, that’s enough. You don’t need to see me. And if for some reason I forget to turn off my camera, don’t expect much. If only half of my head is in the shot, that’s more than enough. If my bright window is dominating the image and obscuring my face, get used to it. It’s still me. Besides what I have to say is all that matters.

Is this perspective resonating right now? If so, I get it. You’re sick of having to show up for your close up. You didn’t sign up for this.

I know.

But let me offer this gentle reminder…

Zoom can Help You Stay Connected
Practicing good Zoom etiquette is worth it. If you want to show up in your life, then you do want to show up for your close up. It matters. If you want a seat at the table, then you’ve got to show up at the virtual table.

Turn on your webcam and follow these five best practices:

1.
Illuminate your Face
You should be facing the window… not the other way around. Please want to actually see you. Not your silhouette.

2.
Turn Off your Ceiling Light
You may think your ceiling light fixture is helping. It probably isn’t. Not if it’s directly over your head. That’s because it’s shining light down on top of you instead of in front of your face. That creates incredibly unflattering shadows. I don’t think you’re trying to audition for the next zombie movie. So turn off that ceiling light and flick on your desk lamp instead.

3.
Elevate your Webcam
Your webcam should never look up at your chin. If your shot features your ceiling, you need to raise your camera to a more perpendicular angle with your face. Simply elevate your laptop with a few books.

4.
Reduce the Headroom in your Shot
Headroom is the amount of space between the top of your head and the top of your Zoom box. I can almost guarantee that you’ve got too much headroom. There should only be a little gap. Please, tilt down your webcam. Your viewers want to see more of you, not more of your wall.

5.
Wear your Headset or Earbuds
Sure, your computer’s onboard microphone will work, but it’s too far away from your mouth to provide crisp audio. Instead, the audio has that far-away feel. That’s because the microphone is far away. Your headset mic sounds so much better. Please wear it. If you’re concerned about how your headset looks on you, then wear your earbuds or AirPods. The audio sounds that much better. Really.

Don’t Forget to Smile
Life presents unexpected twists and turns. It can be really rough. The headlines are getting any easier to consume. I know it’s sometimes hard to pull it together. But your Zooms don’t have to reflect the imbalance you may feel.

If you take a little extra effort to follow these video-conference best practices, you can better present your best self.

And if you’re doing that, I expect you’ll feel better too.

March 20, 2022

How to Organize your Life Using Microsoft OneNote

If you suffer from ‘yellow-stickie-syndrome,’ I’ve got the perfect digital solution to help eliminate your analog clutter.

I have a problem with paper. It’s those little yellow stickies, to be precise. Whenever I have an idea or need to remember a detail, I quickly jot it down and stick my thought onto my home office desk. Needless to say, it’s not a strategy for organization. That said, whenever I complete a task, I take great pleasure in crumpling up the little stickie and throwing it in the basket behind me. Swish!

I know there are better ways to organize your personal to-do notes, and I do have digital solutions in place (Apple’s ‘Notes’).

I Love my Yellow Stickies
But my yellow stickie fix still remains in my personal preferences.

I must admit I like having those little reminders facing me when I sit down with my cup of Joe in the morning. The visual cues keep my home headlines at the forefront of my consciousness.

It’s messy, but effective.

Digital File Cabinet
On the work front, I’ve had more success preventing message clutter. I never suffered from ‘yellow-stickie syndrome’ in the office, mostly because I used a notebook, which I brought with me to meetings. When laptops became a common work tool, I would carry mine about and type up my notes into the computer. Easy. Right?

But the question remains how to best organize that flow of digital information.

If you maintain a Microsoft Word document that houses your ongoing meetings, that will mimic a paper notebook and eventually generate an overflow of details. If you create a Word doc for each meeting or project, then you’ve got to maintain dozens or hundreds of files. That’s too many. Plus, if you forget the name of your file or the date you created it, you may not have a sufficient bread-crumb trail to easily get back to it.

Sure, you can create folders for all of these docs, but it’s a clunky and ever expanding process to maintain.

The goal is to create and easily maintain a virtual version of the perfectly organized file cabinet. There’s got to be software that does this for you.

Well, of course there is.

Microsoft OneNote
My app of choice is Microsoft OneNote. (There are others, but OneNote is baked into Microsoft Office… so it’s right there for you.)

Plus, it’s exceptionally intuitive to use.

I first create ‘Sections,’ which are my broader categories, and then ‘Pages’ which live in each Section. My Pages represent individual projects, meetings or topics.

Yes, you’ll eventually create a massive number of individual Pages, but because they’re organized into dedicated Sections, it’s much easier to keep track of them.

Finally, after I’ve completed a project on a Page, I move that Page into a ‘completed’ Section. This little trick goes a long way to keeping my digital clutter to a minimum.

I think once you set up your own OneNote file, you’ll never want to use a physical notebook again. Just be sure to back it up or sync it to the Cloud.

Happiness is a Completed Chore
I’ve also set up Microsoft OneNote on my home iMac in the attempt to replace my yellow stickie notes. It’s the perfect cure for my touch of yellow madness.

OneNote initially cleaned up my desk in no time. But I eventually slid back into my old stickie patterns.

I think many of us have certain analog crutches that are difficult to part with. That’s okay. If I want to feel the crumple and swish of a completed chore, is that so wrong?

Alternately, when you need some serious help organizing your brain, chances are Microsoft OneNote is already right there for you. Just click on the program icon!

Satisfaction across time can be elusive. So I recommend you employ every tool available to regularly hit that pleasure center in your brain.

Crunch.

March 13, 2022

Why Star Trek: Discovery and Picard are Worth Watching Now

If you haven’t been following these series on Paramount+, now’s a great time to finally check them out. Here’s my review.

When I was a kid, I watched the first reruns of the original “Star Trek” and was completely engaged by the adventure and adrenaline-fueled fun. I connected with this family of characters and it locked me in to follow an ever expanding universe of Star Trek stories and characters for the next several decades.

I’ve continued to watch Star Trek throughout my life. All of the series, movies, different timelines and the recent iterations on Paramount+.

And Star Trek has been evolving along the way.

Finding Balance in “Discovery”
“Star Trek: Discovery” currently represents the new norm, and the writers have clearly worked hard to boldly go where no Trek has gone before. They even introduced four-letter words into the scripts. I’m still stinging from the first time they dropped the F-bomb (although I’m finally getting used to the occasional salty language).

“Discovery” has paid significant attention to presenting us with a truly diverse set of characters. DE&I themes run deep throughout. Bravo.

“Discovery” also focuses on feelings. A lot.

Kirk never needed to talk through how he felt. But these Star Trek characters do. Yes, it’s more realistic, but it sometimes slows the pace of the show. You’ve just got to get used to it.

Speaking of feelings, “Discovery’s” scripts often point out how much the crew love each other. There’s lots of hugging and crying.

When this started, I wanted the stories to first spend more time with the secondary characters. I didn’t really know them. So I didn’t really buy all of the intimacy that writers were suddenly pushing into the scripts.

In this fourth season, that dynamic has finally been properly balanced, and the love/respect/admiration factor is more believable.

Fully Embracing the Cliffhanger
I’m also pleased with another important factor that “Discovery” is finally getting right.
It’s the classic Trek cliffhanger moment that gets you so excited for the next scene or episode.

A great example is the pre opening-credits scene that sets up the entire episode. The original series did it so well, and I’m really happy that the writers have paid more attention to that device.

I always love it when the image suddenly cuts to black, I hear the opening notes of the Star Trek theme, and then I get that tingle of adrenaline. Or maybe you catch your mouth curling up into a little smile. That’s when you want to say, “Thank you.”

“Star Trek: Discovery” has finally landed in the back half of its fourth season.

“Picard’s” Reunion
The second season of “Star Trek: Picard” is also a blast to watch. As I write this, “Picard” is only two episodes in, but this series clearly holds all of the cards. It packs together the best of the more evolved style of Star Trek storytelling with classic Next Generation Trek. It feels so good to be going back to this future.

More Jean-Luc, played by Patrick Stewart, and Seven, played by Jeri Ryan. More Borg queen, this time played by Annie Wersching. More Q (John de Lancie) and Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg).

More classic starship designs, with a crazy new Stargazer. More classic uniforms and less developed transporters. The sounds and special effects are all so familiar. And they tap into little pleasure nodes throughout my brain that haven’t been activated for so many years.

This entire series has a huge impact. How can it not? I know this family. This Star Trek. These characters. And the new characters are well defined. You don’t have to wait four seasons to really get to know them.

If you’re a Star Trek fan, resistance to “Picard” is futile.

Star Trek Happiness
I’ve stuck with Star Trek across the decades like a dedicated football fan. Some years are better than others, but you don’t give up, because you just know the next year is going to be a winning season.

We’ve got two winning Star Trek seasons going on right now, simultaneously.

Fans aren’t always looking for something entirely different. Sometimes what’s old can be new again. And when the new finally aligns with what we already love, then you’re going to have happy Trekkies.

Yes, they’ve finally made it so.

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