Eye Contact on Camera

Eye contact on a video call is not looking at the executive's face on your screen. It is looking at the camera. When you look at the camera, the executive on the other end sees your eyes meeting theirs — direct eye contact. When you look at their face on the screen (which is almost always below the camera position), they see you looking slightly downward — the look of reading or disengagement.

This is difficult to execute in practice because the camera and the executive's face are in different locations, and the instinct is to make eye contact with the face. The solution is practice and intentional habit: identify the moments in the presentation where eye contact matters most — the recommendation, the ask, the response to a direct challenge — and direct those moments specifically to the camera. For the rest of the presentation, the occasional drift to the face is acceptable.

1. Mark the camera-critical moments Identify five to eight moments in the presentation where eye contact is most valuable: the opening recommendation, any statement of personal conviction, the primary risk acknowledgment, the response to a specific challenge, the ask, the close. These are the moments to look at the camera. Practice them.
2. Move the video window near the camera On most platforms, you can move the active speaker window to a position near the camera. The closer the face is to the camera, the less the angle of drift when you look at the face instead of the camera. This is not a perfect solution, but it reduces the visible effect of looking at the screen instead of the lens.
3. Record and review Record a practice session and watch it from the executive's perspective. You will immediately see the moments where camera eye contact was present versus absent. The moments you thought were engaging will often look like reading. The moments you were looking at the camera will look like direct address. Adjust based on the recording, not on how it felt.