#19 Beware the wandering pet and it’s tail and the disappearing appendages (yours and theirs)
There are few things more distracting than people or pets or their tails
Close the door, or as Felicity Kay does, have peanut butter ready to calm the dog.
Talking with your hands is great, expressive and engaging, EXCEPT when your arm or parts of it disappear or distort into your virtual background Avoid stretching motions, we are seldom aware of how much we talk with our hands or how much we actually fidget when we are on a call…
And make sure not to lean too far back and have your head disappear into your background.
While it is amusing to see someone’s arms (or head) disappear and reappear it is somewhat distracting…
Sitting in front of a screen is distracting enough as it is!
#20 Use the blur function from your zoom video settings
And as always, unless your purpose is to entertain, you want to as few distractions as possible.
It makes you stand out more on your screen, there is also a touch up your appearance feature which is quite frankly brilliant