SpringBoard: Ultimate Team Meeting

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Video 101

Boost your confidence on camera

This practical guide offers low- to no-cost tips and ideas for boosting your confidence on camera.

How to Frame Your Video

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During in-person meetings, our brains are naturally perceptive of other’s body language. In video calls, we search for those same non-verbal cues. Framing your video well can help ease the cognitive load for others.

A close frame means others can see you on a smaller screen or in “Gallery” mode among other faces while a just enough distance from the camera allows you to talk with your hands (literally).

What to look for

Set camera level with your eye.

Position your head central with a bit of a gap above your head.

Check your eyes are framed about 1/3 down on the screen.

How to set it up

Place your laptop on a box or stack of books to raise the level of the monitor and then use an external mouse and keyboard.

For greater portability, use a laptop stand to angle your screen up while using the built-in keyboard.

If you are on a PC without a camera, consider connecting an external camera and adjusting the screen to so the camera is eye-level.

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How to Get Great Lighting

Great lighting is an easy way to boost your video quality and make you feel more confident.

The right lighting also gives the appearance of being professional and well prepared (of course, we already know you are!)

What to look for

Check that your light sources is in front of you, not behind you.

If the lighting behind you is brighter than in front of you, the camera will turn down the brightness and you'll be too dark to see.

Look for a nice even light on your face—just like you would like to see in a great selfie.

How to set it up

Position your computer in front of a window.

Natural light produces a great look. Avoid harsh direct sunlight by adjusting the blinds or other window covering.

If you are in an office without windows, sit so that the main light is in front of you instead of behind you.

If you have a lamp nearby, position it in a corner of the room facing you (the distance will soften the light). You can also adjust the lamp shade or use a sheet of paper to soften the light (just be careful it doesn’t get too hot!).

If you are in a home office, consider using a natural daylight light bulb the next time your bulbs need replacing.

You may also consider an inexpensive selfie ring light you can connect to your desk or monitor.

If you find your confidence boosted after mastering a simple lighting setup, consider graduating to a

3-point lighting system⁠

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How to Set Up Your Sound

Clear, interruption-free audio is essential to avoid the seemingly inevitable “Can you hear me now?” scenario. Be sure you others can hear you and you can hear them.

Use headphones to minimize feedback and echoing for others.

If you will be using your headphones as both the mic and speaker, use wired headphones. They often offer a better microphone than wireless which can sometimes sound ‘tinny’.

If you will be facilitating often, consider purchasing an external mic to improve your audio quality and reduce background noise.

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How to Remove Distractions

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Keep your focus and the attention of those in the session by setting up your workspace to reduce distractions.

General advice

Plan for a cameras-on session to build trust and connectedness within the team.

Hide self view so you can focus on others in the session instead of your own video.

Here’s how on Zoom.⁠

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Use headphones to minimize feedback and reduce background noise for you and others in the session.

Join from a desktop or laptop connected to a charging cable. Avoid joining on a tablet or mobile device and ask your participants to do the same if you are leading the session.

Avoid busy, shared spaces when possible to ensure you can participate (or facilitate) freely without distractions.

Install the latest version of Chrome, Zoom, Teams or whatever tool you will need for the session.

Close any unused apps and browsers. This will help improve you computer’s performance and reduce scree clutter.

Use dual-monitors, if possible, to reduce the need for switching between windows during a session.

Making online meetings accessible

If you are facilitating, enable live, automated transcriptions so participants can choose to turn them on if they need them. See how for

MS Teams⁠

Zoom⁠

This is especially important if you have participants who have hearing impairments or if the language you are facilitating in is not everyone’s native language.

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How to Organise Your Screen(s)

Organising your screen space well helps you connect with others on the call and engage with the content.

As a participant with one screen, use 2/3 of the screen for the Miro board and 1/3 of the screen for the online meeting room.

As a facilitator, you’ll want to be able to see the Miro board and participant videos at all times. You’ll also need access to the facilitation guide to help stay on track.

Use dual-screens, if possible, to reduce the need for switching between windows during a session. This also allows easy access to your music playlist and visibility of the chat.

Of course, you can still facilitate with only one screen! If you are working from one screen, use 2/3 of the screen for the Miro board and 1/3 of the screen for the online meeting room.

Consider printing out your facilitator guide or use a separate device like a tablet to help save screen space.

Use the music build into the Miro timer in place of a separate playlist

Always avoid facilitating only from a tablet or mobile device.

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Expert Tips

We asked the Sprint Valley team to share the tips they use to perform at their best while facilitating. Here’s what we heard:

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Advanced Setup

This guide aims to provide easy to follow tips at low or no cost that work in a variety of office, hot desk or work-from-home settings.

We did this intentionally and want you to know:

You don’t need the perfect setup or expensive gear to run awesome meetings!

If you do want to make an investment in advanced gear, that’s great, too! Ask any of the Sprint Valley Consultants for a behind-the-scenes look at the setup they use.

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