To get good lighting, God just had to use words. For mere mortals, it requires a bit more effort. Yet despite years of Zooms, webinars and video interviews, many people still don’t get it right. 

This is a shame. Good lighting can make or break an appearance just as easily as your clothes: you wouldn’t go into a board meeting with your breakfast dribbling down your shirt, so why sully your entire image by failing to light your face properly? First impressions count. 

A well-lit environment frees your audience to focus on what you’re saying, rather than how you look. It enables the people you’re speaking with to better see your facial expressions, body language, and gestures, making communication more engaging and natural, and thereby building trust and credibility. Poor lighting, by contrast, can do the opposite.

Good lighting rules!

And yet this is perhaps the simplest speaking pitfall to avoid. So here are my rules for good lighting. 

  1. Ensure the light in front of your face is brighter than the light behind it; if you have a window behind you, consider drawing the curtains or blinds. 
  2. Ideally, try to have natural light shining on your face from in front of you (though bear in mind that clouds, and sunset, can undermine this strategy). 
  3. Get yourself a professional HMI or LED light. This will enable you  to balance the natural light that may be shining on only one side of your face. If you can, get two – one for each side of your face. 
  4. Backlighting e.g. in the form of a lamp, can also enhance the framing of your shot. 

Of course, lighting yourself properly isn’t the only thing you need to do. Position yourself in the centre of the frame, making sure you don’t have too much headroom and that your background isn’t a distraction. Avoid virtual ones at all costs (unless they’re especially spiffy). 

Once you’ve got this nailed, you too can focus on what you’re going to say – even if your words may not be quite as impactful as God’s.