Is Your Camera on?

What meeting is this? 

My partner asked this question as he saw the full Zoom screen on my laptop, showing 30 or so people. 

“It’s my team meeting,” I replied. 

“Do you have a rule that everyone has to be on camera”? he asked. 

“No,” I said. “Everyone just always is. We like to see each other.” 

I hadn’t really thought about it before. But the only time someone wasn’t on camera in our meetings was if they were driving or had to step away for a moment to answer the door.

“I have never been in an online meeting where everyone is on camera,” he said. “That's so unusual.”

His comment made me pause. He’s been in lots of online meetings for work, and as part of boards and committees he is on. As I thought about it, in many meetings, trainings, and webinars I’m part of every day, there are people usually off camera too.

I can tell within a few minutes of a virtual meeting with an organization whether they have an on-camera or off-camera culture. 

But it’s hard when people are not on camera, isn’t it?

In this world of so much loneliness and isolation, we need to see each other.

We need to see the humans on the other side of the conversation.

But turning off our camera is a form of power. It’s a way to set a boundary. It’s one way we can say, I’m here, but I’m not sharing all of me. You’re only getting my voice today (maybe—if I’m not muted).

It’s a way to control our environment—people (and animals!) can come and go in the room we’re in, we can multitask and do other things—we can even leave if we want to and it seems as if we are still there.

But this handy life hack does not just apply to our online environments—we can move through our days being off-camera too.

You might be at a meeting or at an event, but in reality, only your body is there. Your mind is actually somewhere else. 

Where do you tend to be off camera in your life?

When do you not show your true face, but share only part of you?

Perhaps there are certain meetings where you are mostly silent. Or specific people you tend not to engage with. Certain settings where you go dark.

Being off camera is like putting up a wall. 

Now, sometimes, we need that wall to feel safe. It helps protect others from seeing what our space, room, or moment is like.

But having a wall up also creates an artificial barrier. It can also affect you being fully present in that moment, because you can easily multitask, walk away, or do something else. (Microsoft’s 2022 Work Index showed that 42 percent of people multitask during meetings.)

And having that wall up can impact connection. 

Others can’t smile when your cat comes up to you. Or pause when a colleague is clearly asking you a question on the sidelines. Or can’t see if someone just delivered an iced coffee to your desk. 

We also can’t see if you are becoming a little teary or emotional or animated in a meeting. 

Or if you look especially tired that day so we can ask you what is wrong.

Sometimes, walls may feel safer—because we can hide behind them. 

But in reality, walls that prevent others from seeing things we don’t want them to see also keep others from seeing our happiness, delight, and joy too.

I sometimes get intrigued when I’m in a webinar with a hundred people and I see a handful with their camera on. It makes me curious about these people. What makes having their door wide open important to them? What are they hoping to get from being present in this way? What is making them show up so beautifully and openly right now? (I sometimes think this as my own camera is off, as it can be a relief at times not to be seen.)

But in our team meetings, I love being able to see my colleagues’ faces. We only see each other twice a year in person unless we are collaborating on an in-person project. So, being able to see each other once a month in a virtual session is delightful. We can see if someone got a new haircut. Or if they changed something in their office. Or we know if they look a little tired, and perhaps we need to reach out and see how they’re doing. And even if they are muted, we can see if they keep sneezing or coughing and they might not be well.

Where might you turn your camera on more? 

How might you show more of yourself to those around you?

Influential American author and speaker Jim Rohn said, “The walls we build around us to keep out the sadness also keep out the joy.”

Open the door, and you may find more joy too.

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