Solutions for Your Backdrop

• 00:04 Let's talk more about backdrops.
• 00:06 I obviously don't want you shooting with a window behind you.
• 00:09 That messes up the light.
• 00:11 You don't want anything distracting like liquor bottles, lingerie, dirty clothes,
• 00:14 anything like that.
• 00:16 You want something that is simple and clean and
• 00:19 nondistracting, and that doesn't confuse people.
• 00:22 This is a business call.
• 00:24 They may know you're doing this from a home office.
• 00:27 But it still needs to look business like, there shouldn't be anything distracting.
• 00:31 Now for most people, if you have a home office, just whatever you have,
• 00:35 that's neat and clean, a bookshelf, that isn't your window should be fine.
• 00:40 If you're doing this from your kitchen table or even a bedroom,
• 00:43 you maybe in a studio apartment.
• 00:45 That's okay.
• 00:47 A clear blank wall will look better than lots and lots of clutter.
• 00:51 Now if you are using Zoom for example and some of the other platforms,
• 00:57 they will let you pick a backdrop that can be digitally imposed behind you.
• 01:03 And it's simple, it's easy.
• 01:05 A word of caution, be selective.
• 01:09 I was on a Zoom conference call the other day with someone, and
• 01:13 they had a moon landing shot behind them.
• 01:16 I was so confused and amazed, like wow, they went to the moon or
• 01:19 what's going on here.
• 01:21 You don't want things that are going to arouse curiosity,
• 01:24 unless it is an online conference to talk about how to sell backgrounds.
• 01:29 That's presumably not what you're going to be doing.
• 01:31 So, typically the simpler, the better.
• 01:35 I'm actually standing in front of a television.
• 01:39 I'm in a small closet in my home in New York.
• 01:43 I have an old TV and I just have a PowerPoint slide behind me.
• 01:48 So sometimes I use this office setting, other times I have a plain blank slide.
• 01:55 If I am in a meeting to talk about crisis communications, for
• 02:00 example, or media training, which is one of the things I do.
• 02:04 Then I will put up an image like this to give people a sense that I'm in the media,
• 02:11 but for most conference calls, this is too busy.
• 02:15 This is too distracting.
• 02:17 So you gotta figure out what works for you.
• 02:20 That's simple.
• 02:21 That's easy.
• 02:22 That keeps the focus on your message and doesn't confuse your audience.

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