Here, we offer advice for three-dimensional humans connecting on two-dimensional screens.

But no matter your seniority or level of extroversion, we’ve all wrestled with how to adapt our eye contact, body language, and voice, knowing they translate differently through a small electronic portal.Īnd after a year of looking at each other looking at our computers, the rules of real-life rapport can feel like a fading memory. So what’s better-performing eye contact or paying attention to facial expressions? Sometimes, direct eye contact feels more intimidating than intimate, depending on who’s doing the staring (and how often they blink). On the other, everyone knows it’s a performance-and looking at that green dot actually prevents you from seeing their eyes on the screen. On one hand, it creates the illusion of direct eye contact for the person on the other end. The other day, a colleague and I were talking about the pros and cons of looking at the green dot on the web cam when you’re on a video call.

Dropbox help call