![]() ![]() Ross said that a carefully selected video call background “seems to be the new business suit.” “It’s like you haven’t put any thought into how you are presenting yourself and so this seems less competent than someone… who seems able to keep plants alive, or someone with a bookcase who looks like they are trying to better themselves.” Not everyone has a home office but yet there’s something that still seems a little unserious. And we found that the living room and novelty backgrounds were the worst,” he said.Īnalyzing the findings, he said: “I think people know that’s how other people work. “We tested over 160 people and we found that the background of plants and bookcases led to higher trust and competency responses. Paddy Ross, research lead and associate professor of psychology at Durham University, told CNN Thursday that he was “surprised with how robust” the responses were. “Faces presented on the plants and bookcase background were consistently rated as the most trustworthy and most competent, contrasting the home and novelty backgrounds which received lower trustworthiness and competence ratings,” the authors of the study said. This feedback is private to you and won’t be shared publicly.Stop making employees turn on webcams during meetingsĪ cohort of 167 participants, aged between 19 and 68, were then asked to complete an online questionnaire about how trustworthy and how competent the people in each image appeared to be. Mark contributions as unhelpful if you find them irrelevant or not valuable to the article. Keep this conversation going by commenting below, liking this piece, sharing this article, calling me directly at (81), or e-mail me at improve contributions ![]() When your team joins video calls with clients, suppliers, or investors, you'll all present a consistently professional and easily identifiable front. You can do the same thing for your team by creating backgrounds that work like virtual business cards or team uniforms. Where one person showing a soothing forest scene can be nice, the effect is magnified when you see that image repeated many times. It also gives them a way to set the mood. This makes it easy for everyone else to spot them. The part of the brain that makes decisions based on these kinds of impressions doesn't work using logic.įacilitators working together in an online workshop will often use the same virtual background. Most people will realize that these are virtual backgrounds, but that's OK. Of course, most solos and small businesses don't have a fancy office- but your clients don't need to know that. The same way that people tend to rate job applicants higher when their résumé is printed on fancy paper, clients will see your business as more trustworthy and professional when they see your fancy office. If you have a background in place, and your chair pops in and out of the video frame, and it’s the same color as your hair or clothing, cover the back of the chair so it matches the wall tones.įirst impressions and environmental cues have a huge impact on decisions. If you have dark hair and you’re in front of a dark wall or dark chair, same problem. If you have blond hair in a lightly colored room, it’s going to be harder for you to keep your shape separate from the zoom background. Ideally, the subject (you) should stand out from the background (your room). Here are some ways small businesses can use custom backgrounds to make an impression.ĭo you have mostly light color behind you? Is your hair brown or blond? Is the back of your chair usually visible? Answer these questions and consider them in terms of contrast. Custom backgrounds provide a great opportunity to advance your brand, and unlike most brand-placement opportunities, you don't need a Disney-size budget to take advantage of them. ![]()
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