Distracted by your own face on Zoom calls?

Now that ‘going to work’ means scrabble cleaning a tiny corner of your house and having a virtual mirror held up to your face all day, it’s no wonder we find it more difficult to concentrate and connect with our clients. We’re constantly being reminded that that our resting face is grumpy / the crack in the wall needs fixing / we’ve ballooned over lockdown / our posture is poor / whatever.

The trouble is when we’re distracted by thoughts about ourselves or our environment, we listen less and disconnect. This is bad news for productive conversations. The people on the call can sense it and our meeting is not as fruitful as it could be. If you appear very distracted, it could even be detrimental to the relationship going forward. You could come across as someone who doesn’t care.

Never fear! This often underused Zoom tool is your friend.

 

‘Hide Self View’ means you don’t have to see yourself. Hurrah!

When you’re in Gallery View click the three dots on the top right corner of your video, or right click to find the option. 

Select Hide Myself / Hide Self View and just like magic the mirror is off!

 

 

Restore your view by right clicking or clicking the three dots on anyone else’s video and selecting Show Myself / Show Self View.

You can change this at any time in the meeting and no-one else will be any the wiser. So, if you notice your attention being dragged into your own face, hide it; if you need to check that something is clearly in view, restore it.

Simple!

 

Hiding self view helps turn off the noisy nonsense of self critique. This means you can be more engaged, more connected and more focussed on what is happening. And engaged, focussed, connected communication is the type that works! 

 

A word of warning:

It can be easy to forget that they can still see you when you’re in ‘hide self view’ mode, so don’t get complacent.

Stay in the game!

 

 

Bonus Pro Tip: Look directly into the camera if you’re speaking for more than a few words.  It’ll help the other participants feel like you’re talking directly to them, which increases engagement. 

Happy Zooming, you gorgeous peach!

Here’s to connected, confident and clear communication, wherever you are.

 

Liz’s book ‘Own It! How to boss your fears, free your voice and inspire the room’ is now available as an audiobook.