Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, most meetings have moved to online mediums. Because online meetings save a ton of time normally spent traveling or commuting, they are both effective and efficient. While you can attend these online meetings in the comfort of your home office, it's also important to look and sound good on video calls. A blurry video or muffled audio ruins the experience for everyone on the call. It's even more critical if you're attending an online interview or a call with your boss.

So, after attending hundreds of online video calls and meetings myself, I've come up with some quick and simple tips to keep in mind to help you look and sound your best during online meetings. These tips will certainly help you improve your video and audio quality, even if you already have the best webcam or the best laptop with a capable camera and mic setup.

8 Wipe your camera lens

Keep the smudges away

One of the most common reasons your video quality falls below par is smudges on the camera lens. It's generally a good practice to clean your smartphone's camera lens before clicking pictures. This results in clearer, more detailed pictures that don't appear washed out. The same logic can apply to your webcam, too. When using an external webcam with your PC, the camera is mounted on the monitor. Here, you don't touch the camera lens regularly, so you may not have to wipe it often.

However, the case with laptops is entirely different. A laptop's webcam is usually located at the top of the screen — at the exact spot where you grab the lid to open the computer from the closed position. This results in many fingerprints and smudges accumulating on the built-in webcam every day. So, use a microfiber cloth and wipe the webcam every time before you get on a video call or meeting.

7 Use your smartphone as a webcam

Get the best video output

Needless to say, the cameras on modern-day smartphones are exemplary. Whether you have a top-of-the-line camera flagship or a mid-range device, your smartphone camera can easily trump any webcam. Owing to this, I recommend using your smartphone as a webcam whenever you have an important online meeting to attend. If you have an iPhone and a Mac, the built-in Continuity camera feature automatically lets you use your iPhone as a webcam.

But, if you're using the better smartphone operating system, you can turn your Android phone into a webcam for your PC by following a few simple steps. Most new Macs and several Windows laptops have good built-in webcams, but a lot of budget-oriented and mid-range laptops still have sub-par webcams that can ruin your appearance. If you don't want to invest in an external webcam and you only attend video calls occasionally, this is a nice hack.

6 Employ a good light source

Brighten up your frame

The simplest way to improve your photo or video quality, regardless of what you're shooting with, is by adding more lighting. This applies to photography using high-end cameras and video calls via a webcam. As and when more light hits the camera sensor, the video quality gets better. So, if you're sitting in a room that doesn't have adequate lighting, try introducing a light source like a lamp or a ring light.

Diffuse light sources are recommended to ensure even, soft lighting on your face. Here's a small trick if you don't have a diffused source like a softbox. Sit in front of a white wall and point the lamp at the wall. This way, the reflected light will fall on your face and illuminate the scene without appearing harsh.

5 Switch to the highest streaming resolution

720p or 1080p is the way to go

A fast and reliable internet connection is one of the most essential requirements for a high-quality video call or online meeting. So, using a Wi-Fi network or an Ethernet connection is advisable instead of mobile data or a hotspot. Once you have that sorted, it's time to pay attention to the video quality while you're on call.

If you have a fast internet connection, change the video quality to 720p or 1080p in your video conferencing app or service. Even with a 1080p setting and a 480p video quality, your video will appear pixelated. So, it's vital to set the output to the highest resolution. It's worth noting that some video conferencing platforms don't allow you to use the highest camera resolution in the free version. So, if you use a service often and want the best quality, you might want to consider upgrading to the premium version.

When using a metered connection, set the resolution to a lower level since HD video streaming consumes a lot of bandwidth.

4 Connect an external mic

Audio is as important as video

The way you sound in a meeting is as important as looking good. So, once you have the video side of things sorted, it's time to concentrate on the audio. Your laptop may have a built-in mic for the occasional call. Most webcams also have built-in mics. However, the quality of these mics is generally sub-par. Plus, they can be quite far away from you, resulting in audio quality that's not desirable for the opposite party.

So, the best solution is to pick up an external mic. You can mount an external mic closer to yourself. Moreover, the audio quality will be significantly better than the built-in mic on your computer or webcam. In fact, an external mic performs much better than the mic on a headset, too, which is why I recommend picking up a decent pair of headphones with an external mic instead of a headset. There are several compact external mics that don't break the bank, like the Logitech Yeti Orb, which you can consider for high-quality audio during video calls.

3 Attend the meeting in a small room

Keep the echoes at bay

One of the most annoying parts of listening to the opposite party's audio is when there's echoing. The simplest way to avoid echo is to be in a small room when attending a call. It's even better if the room has ample furniture or other wooden artifacts to cut down on sound reflections. Alternatively, you can also use acoustic foam to dampen the sound in your home office.

2 Choose an apt background

Look professional with a custom backdrop

You may not always be in an ideal environment or may not have a professional-looking background when attending calls or meetings from different locations. For example, I work in cafés or co-working spaces on some days. If I have to attend online meetings during this time, my background generally has people walking around or other tables behind me. This may look unprofessional.

In such instances, I enable the background blur option present on video conferencing apps. Most times, that is enough to cut out any type of distractions from the background. Many platforms like Google Meet and Zoom even have the option to use custom backgrounds during a call. While that's useful, I have observed that the background separation can sometimes be iffy, which may ruin your appearance further. If you wish to use custom backgrounds, I recommend investing in a green screen setup soyour background can blend well with the custom image.

Apple offers some video conferencing tools built into macOS. You can enable the Studio Lighting effect or change backgrounds at a system level. In my experience, these built-in tools work better compared to the background blur inside third-party apps.

1 Enable background noise cancelation

Cut the noise

Are you already using an external mic? Chances are, it has built-in noise cancelation to cut out sounds in the background. But an extra layer of cancelation doesn't hurt, does it? That's where services like Krisp come into the picture. You can use Krisp to cancel background noises like low-decibel chatter, honking, or buzzing sounds from the fan or AC when you're on a video call.

Are you using a Mac? Apple offers a built-in feature to cancel out noise in the form of the Voice Isolation mic mode. Just switch to it, and you can notice how much better your audio sounds in real time. This is especially helpful when you're working in a public place. It's also useful if your PC — like mine — runs louder than you would want.

Impress with your audio and video!

The best way to leave a lasting impression on someone you're meeting online is to look and sound your best during the meeting. Whether you're closing a deal or interviewing for a job, these tips will surely help you improve your video calls by giving the opposite party a pleasing experience when conversing with you.