calls meetings conferences and online events than ever before but you've

probably noticed that not all of them look or sound great so today I'm gonna

give you five simple tips to help improve your video calls so you can look

and sound better. First thing I want to talk about is lighting you've probably

seen some examples of bad video quality like a lot of grain or the person you're

talking with is backlit and they're quite dark and you can't see them. While

a bad quality camera doesn't help most likely the problem is bad lighting.

Bad lighting can be easily fixed with a few solutions. If you have a window

available go ahead and move your computer toward the window and have it

facing you lighting you evenly. You don't want to have the window behind you

because then you'll be quite dark or even a silhouette and people can't see

you and what's the point in a video right? If you can't move by a window or

don't have one available try to get a lamp and put it behind your computer you

really want to have soft light from the front. Tip number two is position.

Computer cameras are not that flattering they're very wide angle so what you want

to do is you want to raise the computer up to where it's about eye level or even

a little higher and angle the camera down this will be a much more flattering

angle. You want to try to have a clean background not have distractions like a

plant coming out of your head. Simplify what the viewers see so they won't get

distracted. Tip number three is use headphones. If they can't hear you or you

can't hear them what's the point of a video call right? To avoid extra unwanted

noise and echo and to help sound clearer you're gonna want to use headphones. For

example, you can use Apple headphones with the mic built-in. This is gonna help

you sound a lot more clearer and you're not gonna have as much an unwanted noise

coming in. Tip number four is have a good internet connection. If you plan to host

a webinar or a live video this is even more important I'm sure you've been on a

call when you see the video start to freeze and glitch and people sound kind

of robotic this most likely happens because you have a bad internet

connection. To fix this you can test your internet

connection with an online tool called speed test. If your internet connection

is quite slow try moving closer to your router. To make sure you have the best

possible connection plug in your computer directly to your router with an

ethernet cord this will give you the best speed possible. Tip number 5 close

out of everything. Turn off your notifications and quit out

of any programs you're not going to be using on the call and let's face it

everyone doesn't want to hear group chat notifications. Also, closing out of

everything will help your computer run more smoothly.

Pro tip on a Mac go to the top right corner where the lines are. Click on that

and then find do not disturb. Hit that button and it's gonna get rid of all

notifications, but don't forget to turn it back on when you're done with your

call. Thanks for watching and I hope these tips help you with your next video

call if you have any questions leave us a comment and don't forget to subscribe.