CHRISTINE LIU: My life right now is just video meetings.
You have this pressure to be camera-ready.
You're on the screen for meetings all day at work.
[SITCOM MUSIC]
And then even afterwards you got to look presentable
for your friend call.
[SITCOM MUSIC] Or be alert for your family call.
[SITCOM MUSIC]
Actually there's intense pressure
to be camera-ready back when this all felt new,
I actually pointed the camera at myself
and recorded a time capsule.
Some predictions I had were not correct.
So the latest we have, officially,
is that the office will be closed for four weeks.
But my best estimate is that it probably
will be closer to two months.
Not long after I filmed that time capsule,
we started production on the very first episode
of Christine Versus Work.
That was when we were shooting this on my phone,
and the wifi is--
I don't know.
Everything looks really-- I look weird.
My hair's so short.
And in that episode, I talked to Rachel Cossar.
She's a former Boston Ballet dancer turned
professional presence coach.
And I'm like, well, what are the tips?
How am I supposed to carry myself on these video calls?
RACHEL COSSAR: We don't have to be stoic non-moving robots.
It just-- it's not interesting.
CHRISTINE LIU: Here we are a year later and I'm wondering,
does virtual presence still matter?
Probably, yes.
But as we've been in video calls and meetings
and been fatigued all this time, it's
like, I think my standards have been slipping a little bit.
[SLURPING]
We are all video stars in our meetings, now.
Question is, how do we make the most of our on-screen time?
I decided to check back in with Rachel.
Let's see what she has to say one year later.
RACHEL COSSAR: You know, the wildest thing
is that we were all collectively thrown into this virtual world
simultaneously.
As we found, right, there's this skills gap,
and that's both the technology awareness
of the platforms we're using and then also what
we can do with our physicality.
CHRISTINE LIU: Why does virtual presence still
really matter a year into this?
RACHEL COSSAR: When everything aligns
to send an impression of confidence and professionalism,
it also sets you up to be more energized, more focused, more
articulate.
Conversely, if they're off they really
do detract from your audience's impression of you
from the get go.
CHRISTINE LIU: Fine.
I get it.
We shouldn't slouch and slurp.
We should care about virtual presence.
Got it.
What has changed since last March and what hasn't?
RACHEL COSSAR: The thing that's most amazing
to me in the segment that we did,
I think it was like a week into the stay at home order
here in the US, a lot of what we said was very much on point.
CHRISTINE LIU: We were actually right a year ago.
So here's a quick recap.
You want to show your physicality.
So that means being about three feet away
from the camera so people can see
most of you and your gestures.
You want to come across as human, not a robot.
[JARRING ELECTRONIC NOISE] If you
want to be fully engaged in a meeting, be on camera
but turn your selfie view off.
I love this tip.
This way you're not kind of distracted the whole time,
sort of glancing at yourself.
And instead, you're fully focused
on everyone else in the call.
Lastly, if you have a few moments before your call,
do some physical anchoring exercises
to refresh your body and mind.
RACHEL COSSAR: And reach up to the sky with your hands.
Open them to the side.
How wide and how much space can you take up?
And now we're going to do tiny little circles with our palms.
CHRISTINE LIU: Now that we have the physicality down time
for the technology.
OK, these might seem super obvious,
but let's go through them.
Consider this a virtual presence check up for you.
And also for me.
Lay it on me, Rachel.
So, Rachel, be honest.
What do you think of my setup on this call?
RACHEL COSSAR: So, I think your setup is decent.
I think there are a couple of things.
CHRISTINE LIU: [LAUGHTER] Yes let's do it.
Let's do it.
RACHEL COSSAR: A couple of things.
Right now we're getting a little bit more negative space
than we need between the top of your head
and the outer limit of that screen.
You see less of me, and you see less of my gestures.
CHRISTINE LIU: OK.
Yes.
RACHEL COSSAR: By adjusting that--
right.
So now I see more of Christine.
And then the other thing is that because you have a window,
we're getting an orb-like presence
in your frame, which means that the sharpness of you
is minimized.
CHRISTINE LIU: OK, so, I have that.
And then let me see if I can get the ring light.
This is real, folks.
I didn't expect this.
So in that clip.
I'm running out to go grab my ring
light from across the room.
And then Rachel has a huge one, which I super love.
But you can also use natural light,
which is what I have here.
I'm not using a ring light right now
and you can see me just fine.
RACHEL COSSAR: From a lighting perspective,
it's much improved.
It's easier for me to see your humanity.
CHRISTINE LIU: Is it working?
[MUSIC] It's a new beginning.
CHRISTINE LIU: I know that there are
big fans of virtual backgrounds out there,
but Rachel recommends against them and going real.
RACHEL COSSAR: If the goal is to connect human to human,
let's be real and let's not add these layers of complexity
that really, they just add more distraction.
CHRISTINE LIU: With that advice, if you
need to use a virtual background for whatever reason,
make sure you're in front of a plain flat solid background.
OK, let's talk about those times when you really
need to be off camera during a meeting.
I typically go into meetings with my camera on
and I like to see everybody, but once
in a while life is happening and for whatever reason,
I just don't really want my camera on.
But I'm still engaged.
What do I do if someone calls me out
on it or they joke about it?
It's like, I don't want to deal with this.
How do you address that?
RACHEL COSSAR: I would just pop into the chat.
Like, hey everyone, it's great to be here.
I just wanted to let you know for this meeting I'm
going to keep my camera off.
And it immediately makes the implicit explicit.
Right?
So name it and claim it.
No one's going to be wondering, oh is Christine in the car
right now?
Did she go somewhere else and she's
with a different background?
No one.
It's a waste of everyone's time.
CHRISTINE LIU: OK, let's recap the set up.
Here's your checklist.
There we go.
Put my jiggies away.
Just for height, OK.
Let's try that out.
Here's my expression.
I can see.
Work with what you got.
Optimize it.
I think this looks much better, right?
Man, I really miss the office.
And seeing that time capsule from a year ago, woof!
That brought a lot of feelings back, you know?
So I was one of the last people in the office.
I cleaned up everything, made sure nothing
was going to be infested with raccoons
by the time we got back.
Leaving the office was like packing up for a trip
to the moon.
Sometimes I do feel like I'm alone
on the moon in my space in my apartment.
But, hey, those guys on the moon,
they had to figure it out.
ASTRONAUT 1: Voice check please.
ASTRONAUT 2: We'd like it to come left about five degrees.
Over.
ASTRONAUT 1: Oh, jeez, that's great.
Is the lighting halfway decent?
ASTRONAUT 2: Yes, indeed.
ASTRONAUT 1: Beautiful.
Just beautiful.
CHRISTINE LIU: If you're still watching, one, thank you.
But two, I'm really curious.
Like, what do you want me to explore?
Like what problems do you have at work?
I'd love to solve them.
Please leave a comment.
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
And if you have any other ideas, throw them my way.
All right.
Peace out.