Zoom Presence: Tech and You.

We're all looking to make sure that when we go online, people can connect with us. Our online presence is clear and one that we want to project a sense of connection and closeness, to achieve our goals more effectively.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS: Elevate, talk, camera, picture, presence, microphone, backdrop, recording, quality, field, important, people, background, create, image, light, masterclass,

The following is an edited transcript of the Elevate Presence workshop of December 3 2021, starring Elevate Elite Member Rob Salafia. A podcast and learning chapter series will follow, and the elements of the final live event will appear on Elevate’s TV channel, launching in January 2022.?

Welcome, everyone to today's lesson on how to bring our Zoom online presence to masterclass production quality. ?

There are two elements to this: technology, and you! I'm an executive coach. One of the best compliments I've received in the past month was one of my coaching clients says “Rob, I don't know what you're doing with your camera. But I feel like you're right in the room with me”. That's the type of connection, that's the type of online presence that we're looking for. So think about this as we work through; what are some of the things you're finding either are working well, or might be struggling with with your online presence.

It's not one and done.

I'll put out there for everyone is that this is not a one and done process. For me it was a journey. It started about a year and a half ago right when when that when the pandemic first started. I had a laptop and I was looking down at it. And it wasn't a very good picture. And then I just it just dawned on me said if I teach this stuff, I better get good at it. So I lifted my camera up to make sure that it was level set. And then I looked at my background and I had to adjust that a little bit and then I went, wait a minute I know I could do better than this.?

And then that's what I got a Logitech webcam now that has a wide spread on so then after a few months, I looked at that and I also looked at my background, I went on YouTube and I looked at many, many people what are they currently doing? That's when I've upgraded to two mirrorless cameras. It started to grow! Right now I'm using a Sony A 6400, and I have a 65 inch screen that I'm looking in. So I your your pictures are very large inside of this that I'm looking at. What's been your experience?

@Bob Eckert “Well, you know, you talk about it's been a journey. My challenge so you know I've produced a lot of studio quality video at a studio and also then replicated a studio, if you will, in my own place. But I'm literally travelling around North America right now and teaching as I travel virtually, and oftentimes I cannot get the level of control in my studio, which is a truck camper, or as Robert would call it a caravan. And so I'm living with that, but to do brand new presentations in that context. I would never record something that was to be reiterated, reiterated multiple times online, but I am running a lot of meetings and teaching a lot of courses in this particular way. And like you Logitech BRIO which is a nice camera, and I love this microphone. I think it does a really nice job and it's very portable. So I find that that's working for me, but I cannot produce in that context. Stuff that's going to be used over and over again. I can teach live. I can have good meetings, but not you know and now I'm at someone's home was terrible Wi Fi. You know, it's like …aaagh!”

The Nomad

So it seems like no matter what situation you're in, you could be on the move. You could be at home, or you could be looking to do master class quality production and they're all different. One of my close friends, is actually a digital nomad. Her and her husband have been travelling for the past year, spending about two months in every location. But when I was on a call with her, her image, her picture quality was impeccable. And I had to ask her, what are you doing? You're on the road. How can you replicate this one she has a really good laptop?

It's an Apple MacBook Pro to the quality of the camera in that it's not even an external camera. It's in the laptop itself and it’s excellent. She has an excellent audio system so her microphone is excellent. And she also has I think one of the most important features, a ring light and not one of those small ring lights. One of those large ring lights, 18 inch. She said it's a little bit cumbersome to carry around but it makes all the difference in the world. If you notice my backdrop. I have a lot of personal items. And that's something that I've done over years, to represent who I am. And she said she brings a couple of different things that she hangs on the wall behind her that are consistent so no matter where she is, she has this consistency from from place to place where where she's going to be doing her recording. Perfect!

What I do is I actually have two cameras. This is a Sony A 6400 that I'm using for my live shooting. It's between me and the and the screen. So I can look directly, almost just a little bit over I can look at the eyes of people and speak to and as I'm looking directly into the camera. Just over here to my right. I have a separate setup with a Panasonic GH5 camera and it has a it has a teleprompter setup and my laptop on top of it. And that's for my master class shot.

Coaching versus masterclass

So there are different video formats that I pay attention to. The picture we're looking at right now (the image above) is the one that I use pretty regularly if I'm having a one on one coaching session or a zoom conversation. I'm seated. I have my desk in front of me. I'm using a podcast microphone, but a similar backdrop that I would if I were doing a masterclass.

My master class camera setup is over a little bit over here on my right. And it's on a separate tripod with a teleprompter in front of it with a my laptop so that I can write something down put it into the laptop and on the teleprompter. I'm going to be standing up a little bit more a little bit more full bodied. You can see all of my arms. I wouldn't be as close to the backdrop because I want to get some separation between me and the backdrop. I want to have a look which is that little bit out of focus and have the light focused in on me.

Depth of field?

So one of the things that we're talking about is quality of the picture. When it's either a webcam, when it's an iPhone, or why would we use a mirrorless camera or a single lens reflex camera? The difference is depth of field. I know that the iPhone does have a setting on it. It's I think it's a portrait setting that will create some depth of field and that means the subject in front and is only a small focus area. So that the whatever is behind you is slightly out of focus and they would call it BOKEH

Bokeh: The aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out of focus parts of an image produced by a lens

Why would we do this? We do this especially when we're doing masterclasses or really high quality content. (If your client is paying for high quality expertise, you should be expected to create high quality content. Ed). You want to have that highest quality picture and the most relatable background possible. You see a lot of virtual backgrounds being used in teaching. That's usually usually with a green screen. When you use Zoom, virtual background, that's when you get all of this image quality that is shifting around around your body.?The outcome is pretty awful, and very distracting for the listener, and probably is not the best thing to do when you're doing high quality learning videos.?

To really get a really high quality depth of field I recommend using a mirrorless camera. You obviously need to learn how to use the camera setup, which is an extra effort. There's a there's a certain frame that you can use that allows it's a a shallower depth of field that will create this blurred background, and that's something that you don't get with either a laptop, just the camera from a laptop, or the camera even from one of your Logitech, which you're going to have a very flat field to it.?

Without depth of field, the subject is going to feel like they're very close to the backdrop, maybe its kind of claustrophobic? You want to have more impact in what you say, and the connection that you have with your audience. You’ll help settle and focus whoever is watching by having that depth of field. It's just going to make your image pop out of the out of the camera itself. It's absolutely essential as part of a professional premium product.

Color, and keepsakes

One of the decisions I made as I was in the process of improving and continually improving this image quality is I brought in a videographer and came into my studio. And when he was looking at the walls, he saw that they were light grey. Now the light grey showed if I were to show you any previous pictures of my backdrop, it created some lighting issues and so what he said was in a photography studio, you have this thing called 18% Grey.?

I went out immediately bought those and painted my backdrop, this 18% Grey and that's where you get this really nice, rich quality wall colour. So that whatever you put on top of that, I chose these dark browns, has a nice richness to it. And it also allows the your physical image to stand out from the background. Then I began to decide what did I want to include.?

I included this boater hat, being a performing artist and a tap dancer. I included some images that would represent who I am. In addition, I have this tenor guitar, which I used to play and I also have a copy of my book Leading from your Best Self. There's also a picture right here, you really can't see it. It's one of my favourite pictures of me and my daughter. So these are sort of iconic images that we want to include in our backdrops that have meaning to us. And especially in a coaching session. So somebody would remark about those and then there's a story behind them. You can have a story to tell they say “Oh, I love your hat!”. I respond: “Let me tell you about that”. It just brings the audience in closer to you, builds trust and empathy.

Audio quality

Let's take a moment and talk about sound, or quality audio. When you first have a laptop, it has a it has a microphone in it and most of the time for meetings that you have, the quality is okay. But if you really listen to it, it can be harsh, it could be a little bit too soft. ( I would argue that the days of the built in mic are over, even for meetings, Ed.). What we want to be able to do is increase the sound quality little by little. The next thing I did is I bought this this Rode Podcaster microphone. This is meant for podcasting, and I use it when my coaching sessions are in meeting mode because it has really good low end to it. That means it has a deeper richer quality to the sound. The problem here is I have to get very close to this microphone in order for it to really produce the best sound quality.?

I've experimented rather with Lavelier microphone, but what I found was it was a little bit harsh and didn't have a very good range to it. So with my masterclass sessions, I bought a @Rode shotgun microphone which is really high quality. It has it's a condenser mic, microphone, and it has a shield to it for background noise. And I put that usually when I'm recording just out of the frame above my head coming right down to where I'm speaking. The quality is amazing. I was taught by my videographer to go into post production and then with the equaliser and he helped me find the settings to be able to actually create a richer sound.?

Also if there was any background noise, there's a noise reduction, a sliding slider that you can use to reduce it and eliminate all your background noise. So these are not hard things to learn. It's always better if you have someone show you and also set these up for you. In other words what I do now when I do my masterclass, I'm in a certain place I have the the very specific microphone above my head. It's recording directly into the camera. And I know after we put in post production, I have a preset that we had worked out with him so that I know all I have to do is press that preset. I don't have to go through an equalising process. It's already set for that particular microphone and then I know exactly how much reduction on the noise to put it out. And it's done.

Framing

Another very important aspect to think about to improve your online presence and your masterclass quality is your background and framing. Framing is really important. Make sure that your camera is set up in such a way that you optimise the different aspects of the background. If you're speaking directly to the camera and your close up, it's okay to be in the central part of the of the picture. The rule of thirds is an important concept in photography. Just look it up on on on do a Google search on it and educate yourself about it. Because what it means is it's just it's just it creates an interesting quality to the framing of your picture.

Lighting

Another critical aspect of getting the best production quality video is lighting. Now I'll tell you, I bought a lot of lights!!

When I brought my videographer in, he encouraged me to buy these higher quality lights 1000 lumens, with a softbox and a grid on top of that box. What it does is it gives you an immense amount of light, but it also filters that light in a way that isn't harsh on your face or it doesn't make you have beads of sweat on your forehead. The other aspect is being able to have a top light. You can see this a little bit here. Now my when if you look behind me if you were in my office here, you would see a loft behind me so that but just above the scene here behind me there's a loft and that means it's a closed ceiling so I don't need a light shining down. What I have is a light shining up on the ceiling, that's then reflecting off onto a top of my head. And it's also illuminating a little bit of the backdrop in a way that's highlighting the items on the shelves without creating an over overabundance of light.?

So without my videographer, I probably wouldn't have been able to really understand and set my lights up in an appropriate way. (There is an abundance of information on YouTube on this, and masterclass.com also have masterclasses on lighting! Ed.) If you're lucky enough to be able to have a setup where you can set it up one time and leave it, fantastic. But my sets situation is I have to be very flexible. So I have to take my light that's in front of me, move it behind, move it over when I'm going to be doing masterclass. So, that means I have to become aware of that appropriate amount of space between the light and me or how intense it has to be. So I have found those settings. I check it with my videographer. So I preset two or three settings in my in my space so that I'm not fumbling around. I go from one to the other to the other, and they're already in preset mode.?

So it's experimentation, but guidance is really important. And once you get it, you can it's a process of learning. Over the past couple of years, I've been adding on and adding on and adding on incrementally and that's what that's the challenge. If you really want to get good at this you kind of have to be a little bit of a tech geek but you have to be willing to grow with it. And there's always new information, new technology coming out. And you don't have to spend a whole lot of money. It's more spending the time to educate yourself to be able to understand different parameters and how to incrementally get better and better picture quality. (Luckily, we have Rob to test everything, and we can buy the right gear, Ed.)

Presence?

Let's talk about presence. My background is in theatre and performing arts. I'm an accomplished tap dancer. I was a rope and wire walker, and a storyteller. And so the skills that I learned on how to connect with my audience or better yet, how to allow my audience to connect with me, came through years and years of practice.?

What I do now is I take those skills that I've learned and that actors learn and performers learn to better connect with their audience a lot of their audience to connect with them. To fill the room with their presence. I bring those to business leaders, for them to be able to project a better higher quality, more authentic presence, to connect more authentically with others, and to share stories, images that bring their subject matter of life and create meaning and momentum behind their ideas. So how do we go about developing presence??

I think of presence as layers of experience - so it's how people experience you. It's how they experience themselves when they're with you. It's a story they tell about you after you've left the room. So think about it for a moment. How many ways can people experience your energy? If you think about somebody that has really bright energy or really nervous energy, you can feel that when you're in their presence.?

Physicality. Some people are really large, other people are just really real, and they take up very little space. That presence … we either feel it or we don't feel it. Voice or vocal presence is really powerful and really important for business leaders. If you have a squeaky high voice, it doesn't come across, especially online, as well as one that has a little bit more resonance and depth to it. Can you develop these things? Absolutely. That's what I do with leaders every day. That's what you can do. If you went to theatre school, if you hired a vocal coach, or if you hired somebody that could help you understand the skills of sending messages without saying a word.?

Rolling in hot

These days we're driving so hard, we're doing so much work …we’re going from meeting to meeting to meeting to meeting to meeting and we're rolling in hot from one meeting to the next. How does this impact how people experience us? Not very well. I know everyone has experienced this that idea of rolling in hot. We come from one meeting to another we haven't had time to even take a sip of water and we just have to jump right in.?

Think about rolling in hot. Is that giving the situation or person the right empathy and acknowledgement? The moment that you're walking in does your presence allow that person to feel like they are the most important person in the room (real or virtual)? Do they feel they are the most important person that you're going to meet with that day? Probably not. I think that's the gold standard.?

Let me tell you a story. So as a performing artist, I spent time opening my arms up and connecting with my audience allowing them to connect with me create a really nice atmosphere. When I moved into being a sales executive, I was the top sales executive and a small boutique training company. I was a grinder. I worked so hard I wore this face [grim hardass, Ed.] while I'd be talking to people on the phone. When I have to go out of my office to go to the printer to get a piece of paper … I was still wearing the face. I didn't realise that I was superficially making myself important, and other people less important. And people were experiencing me as kind of a jerk. I

It wasn't until someone gave me that insight that I was wearing this face that I knew I was wearing the face. And she said to me think of it like this. Think of every exit as an entrance to someplace else. I wasn't leaving my office as much as I was walking into this open space where everybody else was. Just think of it like that. Think of yourself as walking into a new space. It'll change that moment. When you're stepping into that new space. Choose how do you want to step into that space. Take a beat. It gives you that moment of insight.

Relax.

So how do you cultivate a presence that's relaxed? How do you manage these transitions throughout your day? Let me give you three words that you can use to unlock a cool, refreshing emotional energy throughout your body. It's called Breathe, Connect Land. And we're going to do it combined with breathing. So if you're sitting in your seat, you put your hand right on your belt buckle, just one hand on your belt buckle so that you can feel you feel the base of where your belly is.?

[check out the podcast or elearning to experience this session!) www.elevate.ac

When you hit the connect, connect with your balance, connect with your intention of walking into that next meeting. It will clarify it will give you that moment of poise, so that when you walk into that moment, people will feel like they are your most important meeting for the day. I think it's almost it's so critical when you're jumping hop from meeting to meeting on Zoom. You got to give yourself a moment and it's very easy to look completely disengaged.

Managing Physical Presence.

Be present and open. Before you walk into a meeting live or virtual, lift your arms up. Take a deep breath in and say the words “Present and Open” and then just relax the shoulders. Roll them back take a deep breath and relax. This is what I do before I walk into a situation, before I do a masterclass, before I do any recording, whether it's a live, using a teleprompter, I'll always take two or three deep breaths. Get myself in place. And then one last tip. Breathe in and speak out. You take a breath in smile around your teeth you go and then begin to speak. It's really hard to put into practice, but it's worth practising it because it's powerful when you do

It’s a process.

One final thought. Developing your online presence is a process. It's one that you want to relish. You want to continue to develop. Go to www.elevate.ac, watch videos of me and other people doing this professionally, and get inspired. Come to my class on presence! This will allow you it'll give you tools, techniques, practices that you can grow into that you can develop. It'll be like going to the first year theatre class at a university. Take the time, enjoy the process. Enjoy the journey. Because I think especially how quickly technology is growing these days.

It's only getting better and better. And so will you!