At Home with Tech

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Category: Work and Career

April 14, 2024

How to be More Effective during your Next Zoom Meeting 

Do you hate having to join virtual meetings? No need. Here are five ways to make your next online meeting your best yet.

Webcam meetings are here to stay. That’s clearly our new normal. If you want to be more effective and nail your next virtual group interaction, you should pay attention to these five important factors.

#1
Be Seen and Heard
This is not a choice. It’s essential. If your microphone doesn’t work, you can’t communicate. Full stop.

If you keep your webcam off, because you’re still in your pajamas, you’ve given up the opportunity to use the massive power of visual communication. You’re just a distant voice.

Remember in the old days, when you’d sit with a group of colleagues in a conference room, and someone else would be piped in as a tinny voice via a speaker phone? Yeah, it’s just like that.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: You’ve got to show up for your close-up!

#2
Make Sure your Technology Works
Look, I get it. It’s not your fault if there’s a gremlin in the system. But it doesn’t matter. It’s still your responsibility.

I can’t tell you how to fix every problem. The only general guidance I can offer is older tech is going to eventually act wonky. And paying for a faster internet connection at home is always helpful, even if you think you shouldn’t need the extra speed.

Both factors point to the reality that you’ve got spend more money than you want to ensure your home tech provides you a stable ongoing connection to the outside world.

So, you should budget for it.

#3
Maximize your Webcam Shot
Once you’ve got the basics under control, then it’s time to focus on the experience you’re providing your viewers.

Simply turning on your webcam isn’t enough. You’ve got to present yourself in a visually pleasing way.

If you think that’s absurd, and you shouldn’t have to worry about such superficial variables, then good luck to you.

I expect you know the webcam rules by now. (We’ve all become filmmakers.) You just have to put in the effort:

  • Make sure you’re well-lit from the front.
  • Raise your webcam or laptop so your shot isn’t looking up your nose towards the ceiling.
  • Tidy up your background or use a virtual background.
  • Get close enough to the webcam so your head is not a little speck in the shot.
  • And don’t forget to smile a bit. Acting friendly is usually a good thing.

#4
Stand Up!
This is optional, but I’m a big fan of standing during certain online meetings. It can really open up your body language and provide you with the opportunity to be more engaging. If you feel like you’re on stage when you’re standing in front of your webcam… yes, that’s whole the point. For me, standing up always gives me a boost of energy!

If you have a standing desk (like I do), then this is a no brainer. Otherwise, setting up your webcam for a standing shot takes a little extra work.

Buying a laptop desk stand or a portable equipment floor tripod (like many musicians use) are great ways to create a tall enough surface to elevate your laptop or place it wherever you want.

I’ve got both, and though I use them only occasionally since I’ve got my standing desk, these tools have proven invaluable.

#5
Pay Attention
Don’t multitask. People can tell when you’re not paying attention during an online meeting. If you think your webcam shot only matters when you’re talking, think again.

Just like an in-person meeting, you’re ‘on’ all the time. I think that’s why so many people like to turn off their webcams if they’re not talking. It’s so much easier. Then, they can multitask unseen.

Easier isn’t better. If you leave your webcam on, and you don’t multitask, and you pay attention, people will see that you’re engaged. You’re in the moment. That’s so important to a team dynamic. You can have a big impact even when you’re not talking.

Positive Energy Matters
All of this essentially boils down to being ‘present.’ Technology can connect us across great distances, but you’ve got to want to be there. When you cut corners during Zoom or Microsoft Teams meetings, people will notice.

Intention is everything. Your energy is everything. And your technology has to work.

Now, go make your next online meeting the best yet!

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February 18, 2024

Best Way to Quickly Reset your Zoom Shot after You’ve been Kicked out of your Home Office

Here’s a trick that can help you instantly relocate your laptop to another Zoom-friendly location at home when you’ve been unexpectedly banished from your usual room.

By now, we’ve all identified our preferred Zoom meeting locations at home where you can stream yourself to your world. Beyond finding a quiet space that’s not in the middle of your family’s normal traffic patterns, there are other factors that can make a particular corner Zoom/Teams/Google Meet-friendly.

For me, being close to natural light near a window is important. That’s an easy way to properly illuminate your face. That said, it’s not too hard to power up a small battery-powered LED light or a ring light.

Setting up in front of a relatively organized and clutter-free background is always a best practice to demonstrate some visual order and professional look in your shot. You probably don’t want to show off an unmade bed with unfolded towels and underwear fresh from the dryer heaped on top. (Of course, simply use a virtual background for an easy fix.)

The Most Important Detail in a Good Zoom Shot
Fundamentally, the one detail to nail when generating a flattering Zoom shot is to simply position your laptop where its webcam is at the same level as your eyes.

Your webcam should point horizontally to your eyes. It shouldn’t be focused up your nose towards the ceiling. (This unflattering angle is what you’d normally get if you’re sitting at your desk with your laptop). So, you need to somehow elevate your laptop.

One way to MacGyver that is to stack a few hard-cover books and then carefully place your laptop on top.

Always Have a Backup Plan
Angles. Books. Windows. Backgrounds. Who knew we’d be simulating TV live shots from home a few years back? But we’ve adapted.

The only problem is life invariably happens, and you may suddenly find yourself temporarily displaced from your normal Zoom set up. Then you’ve got to wing it and quickly find a flat surface somewhere else in your home to move your laptop for your next Teams meeting in three minutes.

And that can be harder to find than you may think, considering your family’s needs competing for the same spaces. (The inherent challenges of multiple concurrent remote meetings.)

Wouldn’t it be great if you could just magically plop your laptop wherever you wanted, even if there’s nowhere to put it?
A portable floor laptop stand can do exactly that for you.

Portable Laptop Stand
It’s effectively an articulating standing tray that you can grab with one hand as you escape into another room with your laptop. Think of it as a tripod for your webcam and simultaneously a portable standing desk for your laptop.

Laptop stands are usually designed for presentations on stage or video/media production work, but why can’t you have the same access to this solution for home use?

Another superpower for this kind of stand is it will bring your laptop back to eye level wherever you go, because you can easily adjust its height. No more need to stack books.

And you can fold it up when you’re done.

Time to Choose
Buying one is simple. There are numerous choices online in the $40-$50 range. Some are more expensive, but I don’t think it needs it to be built like a tank to withstand abuse. I know I’ll treat it well at home. I just want it to be steady and not fall over. (That would be bad.)

Amazon has a variety of choices. Here are three options:

I bought the Amazon Basics model, not because the Amazon Basics brand screams ‘best quality,’ but because it’s the tallest. So, when I choose to use it while standing, that would be best for my height.
And it works just fine. In fact, it’s plenty beefy at over 10lbs. You can use it for your laptop, portable projector or any other piece of tech that needs a pop-up surface.

The Importance of Maintaining Visual Communication
Of course, you could always choose another path that sidesteps this entire challenge. Just don’t turn on your webcam. I know many folks follow this practice.

But I’ve said it before… If you want to stay connected to your world from the comfort of your home, you’ve got to show up for your close up.

Always keep your webcam on.

And a portable laptop stand can help make that all the easier no matter which room you’ve been banished to!

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January 28, 2024

How to Hack into Lost Memories during Photo Archiving

If you want to retrieve lost details in some of your memories, here’s a technique I used with photos from my days in Massachusetts that can help fill the gaps in your own history.

Maybe you’re fortunate enough to have an amazing knack for remembering all the details from your life. Names, places and all the people spanning back decades. Me… well, not exactly.

Sure, I’ve retained the important headlines, but there are a variety of supporting details that I may not often think about (especially from years past) that can be a problem.

It can happen when I look at an old photo and can’t remember a name. A former friend…an old work colleague.

Maybe I shouldn’t be so bothered by this data loss in my head, especially if these people are not part of my life anymore. But I can’t let it go. If they were important to me then, they’re worth remembering… any time I want.

But it can feel maddening when you struggle to pull a name from the distant reaches of your mind.

Fortunately, I’ve found something of a cure for this problem.

The Ongoing Challenge
As you may recall, I’ve been organizing and digitizing my father’s photo collection since I took ownership of it after he passed away over a year ago. And that collection also includes my mother’s old photos and my grandparents’ photos.

It’s not like I had never seen and digitized some of these pictures before, but the totality of it is an overwhelming process. As far as I can tell, multiple generations before me never accomplished this goal and left behind a mostly disorganized mess of photos. (Apologies to my ancestors if this is incorrect.)

All that I can do now is slowly do the work. Reconstructing some of the details is necessarily imperfect, but I’m making progress.

My Own Story
I also have my parents’ photo albums from when I was a child. So, I’m digitizing some of those pictures too to fill out the visual story from my early years.

No, I don’t recall all the details from those photos either. Hey… I was a kid. I remember enough.

The Boxes in the Back of my Closet
But I can’t blame my family for all my missing photographic metadata. I must own part of the problem…

I had photos stashed in boxes from my early adult years that I never digitized. Yep. I neglected them just like I said you shouldn’t.

So, I finally decided to properly integrate some into my digital photo archive, and guess what… I waited too long. I couldn’t remember all the names.

These well-preserved photos date back to when I lived up in Massachusetts (when the winters were still wicked cold).

My Massachusetts Days
Yes, I’m a born-and-bred New Yorker. I returned to my home orbit two decades back. But before that, I spent a chunk of my life orbiting Boston. That early New England chapter of my life is mostly a distant memory that barely connects to my life today. So maybe it’s no surprise that I couldn’t remember some details.

But it made me sad. There were so many people… work colleagues and friends who filled my younger life with fun and adventure. And I lost touch with so many. Maybe there’s still a way to repair some of that. But that’s a conversation for another day.

Are Memories Lost Forever?
It was a harsh realization when I first faced the gaps in my memory as I looked at the imagery from my Massachusetts days. What’s gone is gone (or so I thought). I felt I had no choice but to soldier on as best I could.

But then something crazy happened during one weekend.

Magic Memory Repair through Photo Cues
As I kept looking at certain photos repeatedly, I could vaguely sense the names bouncing about in my head. I just couldn’t access them. I tried to concentrate, but nothing came.

So, I had to let it go. And that’s when my mind’s magic-memory-repair-process began.

Later in the day… or the next, a missing name would just pop into my head randomly. I wasn’t thinking about it… it just happened. And this sudden recall occurred over and over, until I realized it was part of a pattern.

I had tapped into some type of memory reconstruction that was clearly juiced by the visual cues of the photos. And my mind continued to subconsciously process the challenge in the background, even after I had stopped thinking about it.

Over the next few days, most of the names flowed back like a gentle stream filling up a warm pond.

Problem solved.

Time to Hack into your Brain
Your actual mileage may vary by using this memory-enhancing technique. But what have you got to lose?

So, go find that box of old photos in the back of your closet and get to work!

The mind is amazing.

Why Reconstruct the Details from your Past?
Beyond the factors of your own memory, the truth is the past is never entirely behind you. It’s never really gone. Your experiences and former relationships live with you every day. These memories help guide you and are a part you… always.

Everything from your past ultimately contributes to who you are today. So, I say it’s always best to remember as many details as possible.

And the visual cues from a well-curated digital photo collection can help you to do exactly that!

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