TBI’s favourite corporate wellness coach Tracy Forysth discusses Zoom calls, contrasting colours and visually interesting backgrounds – and explores why it matters in our online world.
I’ve been getting a lot of positive comments about my background (above) when I’m in online meetings. Most people remark on the bold red colour (it’s called Atomic Red, in case anyone’s interested). A couple of people have said it looks like something out of 50 Shades Of Grey, which is not really what was intended…
Anyway, it’s led to lots of discussions about Zoom backgrounds and for me to ponder: do our online meeting backgrounds matter and, if so, why?
Since the pandemic hit, pretty much 99.9% of my work (career coaching, mentoring, advising boards and even delivering all my Wellbeing in the Workplace workshops) have been on Zoom. And, I think because of my TV director background, I can’t help thinking of the zoom rectangles as a camera frame with us humans placed artfully (or not) in the middle.
For me, it’s been natural to want to create an image that is visually interesting and one where I am framed well and in a good light. I want to show up and be noticed in a sea of little squares. I want people to be able to see my full expression rather than just the top half of my face. I want people to be able to see me rather than my silhouette against a bright window. So if you care about this in the way I do, here are some thoughts:
Finally, just a word about what you wear. Someone was telling me that they had a zoom call with a blonde person wearing beige in a magnolia room. On zoom they just disappeared, they were like a disembodied voice. If you want to stand out – and don’t we all, really (no? Just me?) – then wear a contrasting colour!
I would love to know your thoughts. Is this just me or do you have opinions on your virtual background. Let me know!
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