How to Look and Sound Better on Video Calls

You don't need new gear to come across clearly on Zoom, Teams or Meet. A few minutes with what you already have makes most of the difference.

Sound

Use the closest microphone

Distance matters more than price. A basic headset or earbud mic near your mouth usually beats a laptop's built-in mic an arm's length away, because it picks up more of your voice and less of the room.

Pick it in the call app

Computers often have several microphones: laptop, webcam and headset. Call apps don't always pick the one you expect, so choose it in the app's audio settings before the call starts.

Set a sensible level

Speak normally and watch the mic test meter. Your voice should move it well up the bar without hitting the very top. Too low and people strain to hear you; too high and your voice crackles.

Stop echo

Echo usually happens when your speakers play the other person's voice and your microphone picks it back up. Headphones fix this almost every time. You can hear how your setup behaves with the mic echo test; use headphones while you try it.

Tame the room

Hard, empty rooms sound hollow. Curtains, a rug, a sofa or a bookshelf all soften the sound. Close the window and keep fans and other noisy things away from the mic. The noise meter gives a rough idea of how loud your room is.

Picture

Face the light

Sit facing a window or lamp, not with it behind you. Light from behind turns you into a silhouette, and dim light makes webcam pictures grainy.

Raise the camera

Put the camera at about eye level, for example by standing a laptop on a few books. Looking slightly up at a camera feels more natural to the people watching than looking down into it.

Check what the camera sends

The webcam test shows the resolution and frame rate your camera is giving the browser. If it's much lower than expected, close other apps using the camera and try a different USB port.

Connection

Choppy audio and frozen video are often network problems, not device problems. Sit closer to your Wi-Fi router or use a cable if you can, and pause big downloads during calls. The connection test shows whether your connection is dropping out. It checks stability, not speed.

Frequently asked questions

People say I sound robotic.

That usually comes from a weak connection or heavy noise suppression. Try a wired connection first, then lower the noise suppression level in your call app.

My mic works in the test but not in my call app.

The app is probably using a different microphone, or doesn't have permission. See the guides for Windows and Mac.