Video Call
Setup Checklist

Camera at eye level — not tilted up from the desk

This is the most common mistake. A laptop camera on a desk points up your nose. Raise the laptop on a stand or use a dedicated webcam at eye level.

Face centred in the frame with headroom above

Leave roughly one head-height of space above your head. Don't let the top of your head be cropped.

Looking into the camera, not at your own tile

Make eye contact with participants by looking at the lens, not your face on screen. Put your camera at the top of your primary app window to reduce the distance between lens and your face tile.

Camera approximately arm's length away

Too close is unflattering and shows pores. Too far makes you look small. Arm's length is the portrait photography standard.

Resolution: 1080p minimum

Built-in laptop webcams are often 720p or worse, especially at desk distance. A dedicated 1080p webcam is a significant upgrade.

Primary light source in front of you — not behind

A window or lamp behind you creates a silhouette. Your face should be the brightest object in frame.

Key light at roughly 45° to the side and slightly above

Direct front-on lighting is flat. A slight angle creates natural-looking definition without harsh shadows.

No harsh overhead-only lighting

Overhead lighting alone creates deep eye shadows. Add a desk lamp or ring light to fill the shadows from below.

Consistent colour temperature throughout the room

Mixing 3000K warm bulbs with 6500K daylight creates colour casts that look unprofessional and make colour-accurate work impossible.

Tested: no harsh shadows across your face

Check your preview in your video app before joining. One run-through before an important call catches most lighting issues.

Using a dedicated microphone or USB headset — not laptop mic

Laptop microphones pick up fan noise, keyboard clatter, and room reverb. Even a $40 USB headset is a significant upgrade.

Mic positioned 6–10" from your mouth

Too far and you sound thin and distant. Too close and plosives (P, B sounds) distort.

Muted when not speaking

Ambient home noise (fans, street traffic, keyboard) is distracting even at low levels. Make muting a default habit.

Headphones on to prevent echo

Using speakers causes your mic to pick up the other participants' audio and feed it back as echo. Headphones solve this completely.

Noise suppression enabled (Krisp, NVIDIA RTX Voice, or app setting)

Software noise suppression removes keyboard, fan, and background noise in real time. Zoom and Teams both have this built in.

Tested: record a 30-second clip before important calls

Audio issues that aren't obvious live are immediately apparent on playback. Do this before major presentations or interviews.

Background is clean and intentional

A plain wall, tidy bookshelf, or simple backdrop. Messy rooms and unmade beds are distracting and unprofessional.

No strong light sources visible behind you

Bright windows or lamps behind you confuse the camera's exposure and make your face dark.

Virtual background disabled (unless physical background is controlled)

Virtual backgrounds fail at hair and clothing edges — especially with fine hair or glasses. A real background always looks better.

Nothing embarrassing in camera view

Check the full camera preview, not just your face. Items out of focus in the background are still visible.

Upload speed: at least 3 Mbps for 1080p video

Test at fast.com. The upload number matters for calls, not just download.

Wired ethernet where possible

A USB-C to RJ45 adapter ($20) eliminates Wi-Fi jitter and packet loss that cause video stuttering mid-call.

Heavy downloads and backups paused during calls

Cloud backups (iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox syncing) consume upload bandwidth exactly when you need it for a call.

Non-essential apps closed before the call

Video conferencing is CPU and RAM intensive. Closing Chrome tabs and background apps prevents dropped frames.

App updated to the latest version

Zoom, Teams, and Meet release fixes for performance and codec issues regularly. Outdated versions can have known quality problems.

Check camera preview 5 minutes before joining

Hair, lighting, background. 5 minutes is enough to fix most problems.

Check audio input is set to the correct mic

Apps sometimes default back to the laptop mic after a system update or device reconnect.

Notifications silenced during the call

System notifications appear on screen during screen shares. Silence before sharing.

Relevant tabs and documents open and ready

Hunting for files during a presentation loses credibility. Have everything staged before joining.