Sound reliable, look relatable: Behavioural science hacks for video meetings

How are people judging you when you appear in online meetings? Do they think you are honest? Reliable? Persuasive?

With a majority of business taking place through online conferencing, it’s important to take stock of how you are coming across in meetings, presentations and pitches. You might be inadvertently signalling you can’t be trusted. 

Where to look

Where is it best to look when speaking, and is this different when you are in listen-mode?

“Zoom fatigue” seems to be a real thing, and researchers suggest it has a lot to do with eye contact. 

Imagine yourself in a crammed, pre-COVID elevator. Where did you look? Probably at your shoes, phone or the elevator’s progress display — anywhere but the faces of the people riding with you. 

Stanford’s Jeremy Bailenson says this is our natural behaviour when a nonverbal norm is violated.