Your body language counts. What you say has to be congruent with your actions. On Zoom – you get a max of a 2” x 2”pane to exude your confidence and credibility.
Show your strong leadership style on Zoom keeping these three body language caveats in mind:
Posture. Picture your mentors and role models. Do they slump? Do they walk into a meeting with their backs curled over? I’ve asked audiences around the country this question and the 100% answer is, “No!”. The leaders you emulate have good posture.
On Zoom you show good posture by sitting tall. Plant your feet evenly on the ground. Don’t rock in your chair and avoid annoying habits like tapping your pencil/pen or playing with your hair.
Eye Contact. Confident people look at people. Effective eye contact is created by looking into another person’s eyes for a whole thought or phrase (around 4 seconds). Connecting with good eye contact is one of the most important aspects of body language.
On Zoom you need to look into the camera. If you are doing a 1:1 meeting alternate looking at the other person and the camera. If you’re on a group call, Zoom rearranges how the panes are displayed on each participant’s computer. You can look at the person you’re talking to and at others as well. Ultimately, keep your eyeballs on the zoom room and the camera.
Facial Expression. An open facial expression, aka ‘your smile’, elevates your connectivity. Conversely, you can erode confidence when your face becomes frozen.
On Zoom be extra cautious of how your face acts and reacts. Be congruent with the subject matter at hand. If stress is high, try to remain neutral. If your meeting is all about the good news – smile… appropriately. We’ve never recommended that you grin like the village idiot.
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On Zoom you can reinforce your confidence and credibility with positive body language. Be aware of your posture, eyes, and expression.
© 2020 Karen Cortell Reisman, All rights reserved
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Karen Cortell Reisman, MS, Executive Communication Author & Speaker
Good suggestions. I will go back to a recorded zoom to see how I look. Wish I had seen this last week 🙂
Roger – Hindsight is always 20-20! Let me know what your assessment is when you review your zoom call from last week. Will you be doing more zoom meetings?
Thanks for your feedback, Karen
What drives me crazy in Zoom meetings is to see some of the participants who don’t adjust their computers to show their faces. Sometimes I am looking at their ceiling and just the top of their heads.Others will come and go from the meeting, which is seen by everyone. Others get way too close to the screen, and all I want to do is push them away. Why don’t they look at themselves on the screen and adjust their computer screen angles? Not that hard to do! Needless to say, these people do not look professional, but I deal mainly with nonprofits. Still, we should all try to look professional.
Pat – You are sooooo right! You’ve mentioned MANY ways virtual participants negate their messages and themselves. Unless you’re in a personal virtual gathering you want to look professional and get the screen positioned correctly. We do NOT want to see the top of your head! The other day I attended a zoom bday party and the bday girl and husband sat with the light shining from BEHIND THEM (not in front of them). I’ve talked about this in other blogs and newsletters. They looked like two candidates for the Witness Protection Program.