Top Excuses For Not Using Video

We’ve heard them all. Every excuse that could possibly be offered for not turning on your beautiful HD Zoom video. You want to stay in your safe place of audio conferencing and screen sharing. We get that. But, here’s the thing: everything is better with video. So, as a public service announcement, Zoom’s here to breakdown and debunk the top five excuses we’ve heard against using video:

With regards to your general attractiveness, let’s just state the obvious: the people you work with already know what you look like. Seeing you looking slightly unkempt isn’t going to make them suddenly think, “Man, Dave looks a little rumpled…let’s take him off that big project!” And if you’re so worried about impressing the people on the other end of the call, take two minutes to run a comb through your hair, throw on a little blush, and change your shirt. You can probably even keep your sweatpants and flip flops on – we won’t tell!

So you’ve told your boss you’ve got a sore throat, when in reality you’re hitting the links, or the beach, or the slopes. Well, we will begrudgingly enable your bad behavior just this once. Here’s what you do: get up against a nondescript background like a white wall, muss up your hair, and put on your best sick person face. Lights, camera, action!

You’re probably right. If you’re back lit or harshly lit, or the room is too dark or bright, your lighting probably is terrible. But, great news: you can fix that! In general, you need to remember to face the light source in your room. If the light is behind you, you’ll just be a silhouette. You should also close your blinds or hang a window covering. It’s better to use a controlled artificial light source than natural light, which is constantly changing over the course of the day. If you want to go further with your quest for perfect lighting, you can also follow our in-depth lighting guide.

We suggest you try something new that could improve you communication and collaboration experiences. Be a leader. Be an early adopter. Try video. And, there are some real benefits to being on video:

• You can express yourself fully. You may not realize it, but you rely on your facial expressions and body language to convey your meaning. People know you’re joking by your smile or that you’re concerned by the way you’re crossing your arms and furrowing your brow. Communicating by audio only is like trying to tell a sarcastic joke via text, it’s not always going to work. So use video to make it easier on yourself and your participants to understand the meaning behind your words.
• It helps build relationships. Letting someone, such as a new customer, see your face is a great way to let them see that you’re a real human being, not some disembodied voice. This makes them more inclined to like and trust you.

Still a little nervous about video calls? You can get your feet wet with a live one-on-one demo with a Zoom expert. Sign up today!