When speaking in Zoom meetings, I want to see your video not mine

Where do you ever see live video of yourself speaking in meetings? Never. Except in Zoom Speaker View where you always do. Depending on your Zoom video settings, it’s a lot like speaking into a mirror. How does this effect the way you – and others – participate in Zoom meetings?

I notice myself more. I get constant feedback about my appearance, facial expressions and gestures. I become more conscious of those – and maybe it even of how and for how long I am talking. I can imagine that feeling awkward but on a good day it validates that I’m presenting myself okay. Or does it?

What I lack is feedback from others. I see the floating video thumbnails but it’s not much in a group. Performing or presenting with a large audience, I have to make more calls but in a group, I want the other people to be my mirror, not a screen.

Of course in face to face settings I curate the way I present – but I adjust that constantly based on how others respond.

So in a one-to-one Zoom meeting I pin the other person’s video in Speaker View so I can tune into them even while I am speaking. In a group I choose Gallery View so I get constant feedback from the participant videos I can see.

Looking at your face instead of mine, I become more alive to relationship and the to and fro between us. It’s more like face to face.