Just because you’re not shoulder-to-shoulder doesn’t mean you can get lazy.

Anyone who has ever cracked a social psychology textbook can tell you that humans interpret a lot of subtle details about each other through body language. How you’re sitting, how you’re looking at them, little incidental habits like scratching or yawning, and so on. This is why the way you conduct yourself in a meeting is so important; you could be saying the sweetest words imaginable, but if your posture is lacking, they won’t take your words to heart.

This becomes even trickier when you’re in a Zoom meeting, because the other participants can’t see your entire body. In lieu of full body language, they focus more on how you present your face, which means you need to double down on how you look at others. For example, as is the case with a regular meeting, eye contact is extremely important. Eye contact shows participants that you’re engaged with them and what you’re saying. The hard part is the fact that looking at the camera and looking at their face isn’t the same. You instinctively want to look at their face on the screen, but then you’re not making direct eye contact. You need to break that habit and instead look right at your camera to make proper eye contact.

Zoom meetings tend to grate a little more than regular meetings, which can cause you to become bored a little faster. Remember, though, you can’t overtly showcase your boredom in the call, just like how it wouldn’t be a good idea to start yawning and stretching in a regular meeting. Try your best not to yawn, loosen your posture, or start staring off into space. Also, if you have to sneeze or cough, move away from the microphone. Nobody likes that sound in their ears.