Euan was only eight and a Bredon Buzzards Junior Under-9s Rugby Team member. I was a dad and coach who religiously took my son to rugby every Sunday morning, rain or shine. And it often rained; it bucketed down, as we say in Gloucestershire. Accompanied by freezing, biting arctic winds.
Regular dads were soon drafted into becoming coaches or rugby ball-throwing and tackle-bag-holding dads. You get the picture. One Sunday, I was also drafted, or should I say pressed ganged, into doing the refereeing.
“You should’ve gone to Specsavers Ref!” was the shout from the opposition dads lining up along one touchline. Ref stands for the rule of thirds, eye contact, and framing, and is a valuable way to remind yourself how to appear on-screen effectively when preparing for a video meeting or presentation. Let me explain more.
R – Rule of Thirds
Over the years, professional photographers and videographers, as well as camera operators for the BBC and anyone half-decent at videoing people, have operated by the rule of thirds. As a rule, they place the person’s head clearly in the top third of the screen, sometimes just to the right or left. This is known as the rule of thirds.
This is the perfect position for your face during a video call. Make sure you line this up before you go online.
Imagine a landscape piece of paper. Draw three vertical lines and three horizontal lines to intersect each other. Now, imagine a person’s head and place their eyes along the top line, just to the right or left, ensuring the face is prominent on-screen. This is the perfect position for your face during a video call. Make sure you line this up before you go online.
E – Eye Contact.
We’re all accustomed to maintaining eye contact or gazing in a face-to-face, real-world setting. As a human, this is most likely a natural and muscle memory-based skill. When we go online on camera, we are drawn to the person’s eyes to make eye contact. The problem this creates is that the person’s eyes on the screen don’t always correspond to the camera lens. As a result, they don’t think we’re giving them eye contact, which creates a communication blockade.
The answer is simple yet challenging to put into practice. Look at the camera lens most of the time. Maybe you could:
- Gaze at the lens and the person’s eyes by slowly shifting your gaze from one to the other.
- Position your webcam in front of your monitor, around your eyes.
- Use a camera that allows you to zoom in a few metres away from the lens so the person sees you. The distance between you and the camera lens affords the illusion of you looking at the lens all the time.
- Place a photo of a loved one just below your camera lens to draw your attention to the lens.
Maintaining eye contact with a group in a real-world setting involves glancing briefly at someone, then moving to someone else, and so on. This is quickly learned. It’s very different online because everyone’s not just in the front row but looking at you independently in an office or home. They are not sitting next to people in a meeting room. There are exceptions, of course, but primarily online presenting involves you presenting to just one person; at least, that’s how they see it. So follow the same rules whether speaking to one or a hundred. The only problem with talking to hundreds is that you’ll never see their eyes; you assume they’re behind the camera lens.
F – Framing
Continuing our rule of thirds, professional camera operators will always consider the frame within which you’re positioned. The picture frame. Sometimes, you’ll see a perfectly positioned plant or picture on the wall, just to the left or right of the person’s head. I’ve seen people creating the background to maximise the “frame”.
On one of my cameras in the studio, I have some pictures of the tube in London and another set of Corgi public transport models from London – taxis and London buses – to indicate that online presentations save the planet from diesel emissions. I’ve seen people showing their collection of guitars to break the ice about their hobbies and interests. I’ve witnessed plain walls or pop-up banners advertising the person’s business.
Framing or backgrounds that haven’t worked are:
- Poorly lit digital backgrounds of the Golden Gate Bridge. There’s nothing wrong with the Golden Gate Bridge, but if you use a digital background, you need a well-lit green screen behind you. A green screen is simply a sheet of green material that must be lit without too many shadows. Without one, the digital image blurs with your image, resulting in disastrous results.
- A busy office behind you with people walking past you looking to see who you’re on a call with. If you’ll be presenting, try to find a meeting room or somewhere with no one behind you as you present. The slightest movement behind the presenter can be a massive distraction for those watching.
- Blurring your image behind you will hide all sorts of evils, but your audience will wonder why you’ve blurred the background. What are you hiding? They will ask themselves.
Generally, poorly lit backgrounds and presenters are the worst kind of framing. I know it’s tricky to get the lights and position everything before a video call, but when you’re the image, the presentation, you at least owe it to your audience to put some thought and action into what they see.
Naturally, “you should’ve gone to Specsavers Ref” was not complimentary but designed to offload their exasperation as Bredon Buzzard thrashed the away team every Sunday, with maybe a little help from the Ref.
