Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley weighs in on how people can look great on virtual conferences while working from home amid the pandemic.

Video Transcript

ADAM SHAPIRO: All right, we're watching the rally on Wall Street here at Yahoo Finance. NASDAQ up more than 60 points, Dow up more than 420 points, S&P 500 up more than 45 points. We are all, obviously, working from home, broadcasting from home. I bet you've done a Zoom or a Skype or a Google Hangout situation.

But our own Dan Howley saved me, because my camera wasn't working. And he, in our "Tech Support, How to Look at Great While Using Your Webcam," walked me through fixing the darn thing. Dan?

DAN HOWLEY: That's right. A lot of people-- we've been doing this for about a month now, working from home, using webcams, and yet still, most of us don't know how to do this properly. We still look like we might be in a ransom photo or something along those lines. So let's walk you through some steps to make it easier.

The first and most important thing is lighting. When you're using a webcam, you want to make sure the light is on your face. So think of putting a light above your camera on your desktop, on your laptop. Regardless of what you're using, the light should be directly above you. You want to, ideally, look like this, and not like this where it's all dark.

The other thing that you want to look out for is back lighting. So if you have a nice window, that might look nice behind you and your head, but in reality, you're just turning yourself into a silhouette and they can't see your face, whoever you're talking to. Make sure that the light is in front, and that you're not silhouetted.

After that, you want to talk about positioning. If you have a laptop, desktop, whatever you're using, make sure that it's about eye level-- your camera's about eye level with your eye. So what you want to do is put it on top of anything. Prior to having a proper tripod, I had my laptop-- believe it or not-- stacked on a 12-can pack of Coca-Cola. So obviously, anything will work.

After that, one of the most important things to do is make eye contact with the camera. Look directly in the lens. Nothing breaks the immediacy of a webcam chat than having someone stare off to the left or right or looking down at the screen at yourself. Don't be vain, just look directly at the camera.

After that, one of the things you want to look at is whether or not you have a decent background. You want something that is fairly plain. Adam's is a fantastic example. Not too much going on in the background, but just enough. It looks great. I, right now, have just a few bucks to make people think that I'm smart. Those are props, by the way. I've never opened them.

But you don't want something completely blank like you're taking a mug shot, and you don't want too much going on in the background. You don't want to have people walking by, or just too much stuff-- noise-- people will get distracted with that.

After that, if you're having trouble with your webcam on your laptop or desktop, think about switching to your smartphone. Believe it or not, something like an iPhone-- the selfie cam on that-- is worlds better than you will find on your new MacBook or even on your old laptop, or even on independent webcams themselves. So if you had something to prop up your phone, use that. Just make sure you continue to look right at that little camera.

And finally, for the love of God, if you're not talking, mute the microphone. Nobody wants to hear dishes clanging in the background, your dogs barking, your kids crying, conversations that you're having with someone else, the typing of your keys. If you're not talking, mute. Everyone will love you for it, and that's just a little public service announcement for you. Adam, back to you.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Dan, I got more of these Studebaker posters if people need them. And just want to reiterate, light on your face, but as you said-- and it's always true-- position matters. Dan Howley, thank you very much.