5 Secrets to Look Better in Zoom Meetings & Video Conferences

We’ve all been on about 1000 Zoom calls by now. At this point, you probably have the tech down, but is your Zoom look as dialed in? In this video, I’ll teach you 5 secrets to looking your best on Zoom.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, conference calls probably aren’t going away any time soon. You’ve probably already gotten over the novelty of wearing PJs all day and realized getting ready in the morning actually makes you feel better and boosts productivity. You’ve probably also gotten over getting dressed head-to-toe in office-level clothing, and have learned a few tricks to being comfortable but still feeling professional. 

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If you’re new here, I’m Missy of Simplified Wardrobe, an Ethical Personal Stylist & Capsule Wardrobe Curator. I help ambitious, eco-conscious womxn who want to look great, feel confident, and simplify their lives.

Find more information about personal style, capsule wardrobes, and color analysis over on Instagram. You can also download my free 10-page Guide to Defining your Personal Style.

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My 5 tips that to take your Zoom looks to the next level:

Secret 1: Good lighting

These calls are going to be a thing, like it or not. If your home office area isn’t somewhere well-lit, you’re going to appear dark and grainy. To combat this, you can face your desk space toward a window or another light source. Just be careful with lamps. If they don’t give off ambient light and are more targeted, you’ll end up looking like two-face, with harsh bright light on one half and dark shadows on the other size of your face. Not cute. Either maneuver your lamps so you can get a nice even light, or invest in a small ring light you can turn on for meetings so your entire face glows.

Secret 2: Consider your background

Make sure whatever you’re wearing doesn’t blend into the background or clash too much. If you have a white wall behind you, don’t wear white shirts or you’ll look like a floating head. Similarly, if you have a busy wallpaper behind you, avoid busy patterned shirts that clash and cause eye spasms to anyone who looks at your little window. In fact, it’s best to avoid busy patterns altogether. Opt for subtle patterns or solid colorful shirts. For the best results, make sure they’re in hues and tones that complement your natural coloring.

Secret 3: Go all out on your bust and above

This is kind of obvious but bears repeating. People can only see your shoulders and up so make sure you’re doing what you can in that region. That means doing your hair and makeup, getting cute glasses, wearing statement earrings or necklaces, and wearing tops in bold colors. I also recommend a bold lip (in your best color, of course) for really big meetings.

Secret 4: Touch up your appearance

Okay, you might already know this little hack, but if not, you’re welcome. In your Zoom settings, there’s an option called “touch up my appearance”. You want to make sure that’s checked. What this does is retouches your video display with a soft focus. This smoothes out the skin on your face kind of like an instagram filter, so you look more polished without layering on tons of makeup.

Secret 5: Wear your best colors

I’ve said “best colors” a couple of times and just in case you don’t know what that means, I mean your Color Type or color season, which is a collection of colors that look best on your natural coloring. Wearing these colors, especially against your face, will make you look younger, healthier, and more awake for whenever you wear them, but especially on Zoom when your head is in a tiny little box on the screen. If you want to figure out your best colors, start with this blog post all about finding your undertone and overtone.

Those are my 5 secrets to looking your best on Zoom.

I don’t know how long Zoom meetings will be our normal, but for now, remember: get yourself some good lighting, consider what’s in your background, go all out on your game face, touch up your appearance, and wear your best colors.

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