Does Virtual Presence Still Carry Weight at Work? | Christine vs. Work

0:01This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required. Compatibility and availability varies 18+. This episode is brought to you by Palmolive. Family time isn't just the big moments. It's weeknight dinners, sitting around the table, everyone talking all at once.

0:35So when the plates are empty and the sink is full, use Palmolive Ultra. Palmolive's most powerful formula removes up to 99.9 % of grease, leaving your dishes sparkling clean. And the new convenient pump makes cleaning even easier, so you can spend less time tackling dishes and more time together. Shop now at palmolive.com.

0:55Christine:My life right now is just video meetings. You know, you have this pressure to be camera ready. Like you're on the screen for meetings all day at work.

1:10Christine:And then even after work, you got to look presentable for your friend call. Or, you know, be alert for your family call. Actually, there's intense pressure to be camera ready. Back when this all felt new, I actually pointed the camera at myself and recorded a time capsule. Some predictions I had were not correct. So the latest we have officially is that the office will be closed for four weeks, but my best estimate is that it probably will be closed for two months. Not long after I filmed that time capsule, we started production on the very first first episode of Christine vs. Work. That was when we were shooting this on my phone and the wifi is like, I don't know.

1:59Christine:Everything looks really, I look weird. My ears are short. And in that episode, I talked to Rachel Kosser. She's a former Boston ballet dancer turned professional presence coach. And I'm like, well, what are the tips? How am I supposed to carry myself on these video calls? You don't have to be stoic, non-moving robots. It just is not interesting. Here we are a year later and I'm wondering, does virtual presence still matter? Probably yes, but you know, as we've been in video calls and meetings and been fatigued all this time, it's like, I think my standards have been slipping a little bit.

2:38Christine:We are all video stars in our meetings now. Question is, how do we make the most of our on-screen time?

2:50Christine:I decided to check back in with Rachel. Let's see what she has to say one year later. You know, the wildest thing is that we were all collectively thrown into this virtual world, like simultaneously. As we found, right, there's this skills gap, and that's both the technology awareness of the platforms we're using, and then also what we can do with our physicality. Why does virtual presence still really matter like a year into this? When everything aligns to send an impression of confidence and professionalism, it also sets you up to be more energized, more focused, more articulate. Conversely, if they're off, they really do detract from your audience's impression of you from the get go.

3:34Christine:Fine. I get it. We shouldn't slouch and slurp. We should care about virtual presence. Got it. What has changed since last March and what hasn't? The thing that's most amazing to me in the segment that we did, I think it was like a week into the stay at home order here in the US, a lot of what we said was very much on point. We were actually right a year ago. So here's a quick recap. You want to show your physicality. So that means being about three feet away from the camera so people can see most of you and your gestures. You want to come across as human. Audio jump. Not a robot. If you want to be fully engaged in a meeting, be on camera, but turn your selfie view off.

4:19Christine:I love this tip. This way you're not kind of distracted the whole time, sort of glancing at yourself, and instead you're fully focused on everyone else in the meeting. Lastly, if you have a few moments before your call, do some physical anchoring exercises to refresh your body and mind. And reach up to the sky with our hands, open them to the side, how wide and how much space can you take up? And now we're going to do tiny little circles with our palms. Now that we have the physicality down, time for the technology. Okay, these might seem super obvious, but let's go through them. Consider this a virtual presence checkup.

4:57This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required. Compatibility and availability varies 18+. This episode is brought to you by Palmolive. Family time isn't just the big moments. It's weeknight dinners. Sitting around the table, everyone talking all at once.

5:31So when the plates are empty and the sink is full, use Palmolive Ultra. Palmolive's most powerful formula removes up to 99.9 % of grease, leaving your dishes sparkling clean. And the new convenient pump makes cleaning even easier, so you can spend less time tackling dishes and more time together. Shop now at palmolive.com. For you, and also for me.

5:55Christine:Lay it on me, Rachel. So, Rachel, be honest. What do you think of my setup on this call? so I think your setup is decent I think there are a couple of things yes let's do it let's do it a couple of things right now we're getting a little bit more space negative space than we need between the top of your head and the outer limit of that screen see less of me and you see less of my gestures okay by adjusting that right so now I see more of Christine and then the other thing is that because you have a window, we're getting like an orb-like presence in your frame, which means that the sharpness of you is minimized.

6:42Christine:Okay, so I have that. And then let me see if I can get the ring light. This is real, folks. I didn't expect this. So in that clip, I'm running out to go grab my ring light from across the room. And then Rachel has a huge one, which I super love. But you can also use natural light, which is what I have here. I'm not using a ring light right now and you can see me just fine. From a lighting perspective, it's much improved. It's easier for me to see your humanity. Is it working?

7:16Christine:I know that there are big fans of virtual backgrounds out there, but Rachel recommends against them and going real. Right, if the goal is to connect human to human, like let's be real and let's not add these layers of complexity that really, you know, they just add more distraction. With that advice, if you need to use a virtual background for whatever reason, make sure you're in front of a plain, flat, solid background. Okay, let's talk about those times when you really need to be off camera during a meeting. I typically go into meetings with my camera on and I like to see everybody. But once in a while, there's like, you know, life is happening.

8:00And for whatever reason, I just don't really want my camera on, but I'm still engaged.

8:06Christine:What do I do if someone calls me out on it or they, you know, joke about it? It's like, I don't want to deal with this. How do you address that? I would just pop into the chat like, hey, everyone, you know, it's great to be here. I just wanted to let you know for this meeting I'm going to keep my camera off. It immediately makes the implicit explicit right so name it and claim it. No one's going to be wondering oh well is you know is Christine in the car right now like is she did she go somewhere else and she's you know with a different background and no one it's a waste of everyone's time. Okay let's recap the setup.

8:42Christine:Here's your checklist. There we go. while.

8:55Christine:Here's my expression. I can see. Work with what you got. Optimize it. And I don't know. I think this looks much better, right?

9:07Christine:Man, I really miss the office. And seeing Seeing that time capsule from a year ago, woof, that brought a lot of feelings back, you know? So I was one of the last people in the office. I cleaned up everything, made sure nothing was going to be infested with raccoons by the time we got back. Leaving the office was like packing up for a trip to the moon. Sometimes I do feel like I'm alone on the moon in my space, in my apartment. But hey, those guys on the moon, they had to figure it out. Voice check, please. We'd like it to come left about five degrees. Over. Oh, geez, that's great. Is the lighting halfway decent?

9:48Christine:Yes, indeed. Beautiful. Just beautiful. If you're still watching, one, thank you. But two, I'm really curious. Like, what do you want me to explore? Like, what problems do you have at work? I'd love to solve them. Please leave a comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts. And if you have any other ideas, throw them my way. alright peace out for a limited time you can get a Big Mac meal for just$8 that's a burger, fries and a drink, they don't call it an extra value meal for nothing, get a Big Mac meal only at McDonald's price and participation may vary, promotion pricing may be lower than meal pricing close your eyes, exhale, feel your body relax and let go of whatever you're carrying today well I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class.

10:38I got them delivered free from 1-800-CONTACTS. Oh my gosh, they're so fast. And breathe. Oh, sorry. I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order. Oh, sorry. Namaste. Visit 1-800-CONTACTS.com today to save on your first order. 1-800-CONTACTS. Get business done with the new American Express Graphite Business Cash Unlimited card. With unlimited 2 % cash back on all eligible purchases. Unlimited 5 % cash back on flights and prepaid hotels booked through American Express Travel Online and a flexible spending capacity that can grow with your business, you'll have the confidence to keep building.

11:15Apply today and earn a welcome offer of$1 ,500 cash back after you spend$50 ,000 in qualifying purchases on your new card within the first six months of card membership. Terms apply. Learn more at go.amex.com.