Remote Meeting Quality

Intent

The overall experience of meeting feels like we are meeting in person.

How to think about it

When we meet someone in person we think about dressing appropriately and other age old concepts. When meeting via remote meeting, there are new concepts, and the standard for what is required has changed a lot over the past few years.

Test your setup

If you do not regularly take remote meetings we encourage you to test out your setup in advance. Recall that what you see in the preview window may not be what the other person sees or hears. Test it out to make a great first impression.

Expectations

We are less demanding of the initial 60 second video however when we meet "in person" the expectations are higher.

Why it matters

A lack of minimum setup here hampers communication.

Internet Connection

A good internet connection is a must.

Video

A good camera is a must. If your smartphone has a better camera then use that. Most older laptops have poor built-in cameras and an add on modern camera is most likely needed. A minimum standard is something like a Logitech c920 or equivalent.

Audio

Good audio equipment is a must. There are many good options from headphones to dedicated microphones.

Lighting

During the day, face a primary light source, like a window. Natural light is best. A good window will beat expensive lighting setups.
In the evening, face an artificial light source.
There are many tutorials on lighting on YouTube.

Background

Have a distraction free background, both visual and audio.
Toggling mute on/off to cancel background noise is better then nothing, however in practice this usually doesn't work very well and it's best to have a quiet background, like you would if meeting in person.
Auto-blur settings can help with background, but again it's still best if your background can be distraction free in the real world.

Help with your setup

Looking at how expert YouTubers setup their space is a good starting point. There are usually many options that are not a huge dollar amount but can make a massive difference in meeting quality.

What you can control

No matter where you live or how battle tested your setup is we know internet connections can get choppy, cameras fail, systems have to be restarted etc. We understand this - our equipment doesn't always work either. Just do your best!