It’s important that your audience can see and hear you or your speakers clearly during an event to keep them engaged and to help your event look as professional as possible. Below is a quick checklist of tips and tricks to help support you with getting the best out of your audio and video during your online events. You don’t need any specialist equipment or knowledge to implement these tips; they are all quick and easy wins to help make your video and sound quality as good as it can be.

1. Video tips

• Position your camera at eye level
  Most often, people will be using a plug-in webcam, or a webcam integrated into a laptop, when they are presenting during online events. Getting the positioning of your camera right can have a big impact here. Raise your computer screen / webcam up to your eye-level, so you are looking directly forward into to webcam so it feels like you are speaking naturally to your audience. If the webcam is too high or too low, the perspective won’t look natural. If you have a laptop, you can put it on a stack of books or a box as an easy solution to get it to the right height for your eye level.
• Centre yourself
  When you have your camera on, position yourself so that you appear right in the centre of your camera instead of to one side. This will make you the main focus of the video and ensure your audience can see you clearly.
• Test your lighting
  Getting your lighting right is key to a good quality video. The best way to testing your lighting is to switch your camera on and observe what the lighting in your room does to you on camera. For example, being next to a window may cause shadow on one side of your face, being in front of a window may put you in silhouette. Artificial lighting is often best for video as it’s more controlled, so you may want to close your blinds or curtains and switch on your lights instead for a more even light that is less directional. It’s useful to test your lighting at the same time of day you will be delivering your event too, as lighting can vary at different points in the day. If you have a ring light, or an adjustable lamp, positioning that behind your camera and pointing it towards you can help to ensure your face is well-lit on video too.
• Keep your background neutral
  Think about what can be seen in your background when you’re on video. Whilst you might not have a lot of control over what’s behind you in your video, doing what you can to make your background as neutral as it can be will help your audience keep their focus on your during the event. If you have a wall behind you, try to be at least a couple of feet away from it if possible.
• Plan your clothing
  Wear something that contrasts to your background to make you stand out. For example, if the wall behind you is white, opt for a contrasting colour like black or blue. If you wear something too pale then you won’t stand out from your background. Another tip is to try to avoid clothing that is too heavily patterned or striped as that can cause distortion when you move on camera. A block colour works best.

2. Sound tips

• Microphone
  Most computers and laptops come with a microphone built into the device, and plug-in webcams often come with inbuild microphones too, so you shouldn’t need any additional equipment for the audio for your online event. However, if you have a pair of headphones with a microphone, that would be great to use instead as the sound quality is likely to be better if it’s closer to your mouth.
• Headphones
  Even if you’re using the inbuild microphone in your computer, it would be useful to use a pair of headphone during your online event. Using headphones means that the sound of other people talking during the event won’t be picked up through your microphone and will be useful to prevent any audio feedback.

More help here

How to run excellent online events to engage my visitors

Online events and activities have been essential for heritage organisations to stay connected with their visitors and audiences over the past two years during the pandemic. They can also help organisations to expand audiences, increase accessibility and engage with new communities. In this resource, Danielle Patrick provides clear guidance on what to think about when organising an online event from understanding your audience’s needs, through to planning, programming, marketing, delivering and evaluating your event.

 

Video: Using digital to support your in-person learning offer after reopening

Heritage organisations have started to expand their learning offer to deliver programmes, resources and events online. In this webinar recording, Amy Todd and Liam Cunningham from Dig Yourself consider what elements of online learning can we use to support the in-person learning experience. From expanding audiences, increasing accessibility and engaging with new communities — there are many ways in which you and your heritage organisation can blend your in-person engagement with digital offers.

 

Tools to support your online event

This resource by Danielle Patrick provides a small selection of some of the online tools available to help support the delivery of your online events and activities. Platforms that enable you to register your attendees and ticket your event, to deliver your event online, and to evaluate the success of your event using online surveys.

 

Except where noted and excluding company and organisation logos this work is shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) Licence

Please attribute as: "Getting the best of your video and sound (2022) by Danielle Patrick supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, licensed under CC BY 4.0