Although you might be tempted to upload a personal photo and use that as your background (which can be done in Zoom), please resist this temptation. The wall can include art, plants, or books, but whatever’s behind you shouldn’t be too distracting-nothing too ornate, bright, or colorful so as to attract eyes to it, instead of you. Ideally, you want something clean and clear, preferably a white wall, behind you. Once you’ve found a quiet space, you need to find a good background, which is extremely important when you Zoom. You can do this by taking up a corner of a room, or sitting with your back close to a wall. If it’s impossible to use a space that no one else can access (understandable under quarantine, when space is shared with family, roommates, and pets), then try to situate your camera so that, at least, the other people on the call can’t see your housemates when they’re running, walking, or hopping through the room. And it’s a good idea to have a back-up space in case something unforeseeable happens-like dogs barking outside if you’re near a window. Ideally, you want to set up in a bedroom, office, or other room no one else in your household will be using or able to walk through while you Zoom. This means you need to find a quiet space. Once you’ve downloaded Zoom and made sure your microphone and camera are working properly, you want to set up your computer or laptop to make sure whomever you’re Zooming with can hear you well. So here are a few ways to quickly improve the quality of your Zoom meetings.

But if you're a Zoom newbie, there’s a lot to learn when it comes to Zooming properly. If you’re an experienced Zoomer, you might already how to properly light your face, make your apartment look cleaner than it is, and prevent your cat from making a guest appearance in your meetings. Given the Zoom boom-and that millions of people will be working remotely for the foreseeable future-you better know how to use Zoom for business meetings, and use it well. Also consider that Zoom was born in 2013, went public in 2019 at a valuation of $16 billion, and is now worth $40 billion. In March, that number reached 100 million. Consider that this past December, the video conferencing service Zoom had 10 million daily users. Along with (and thanks to) a global pandemic, we’re in the middle of a Zoom boom.

How to do a zoom conference call