We don’t answer our phones to our friends and family for 3-4 business days but are forced to sit on Google meet talking to strangers for hours a day.

The upside of the video call: if it's going really badly, you can just close your laptop and exhale deeply!

The downside of the video call is that it robs us of our ability observe micro-reactions and facial expressions. How do I know if that eye-twitch was from hatred of me or allergies?!

It’s a stilted way of communicating and at times can feel like the most awkward experience of your life, but as seasoned video-callers, here are our dos and don'ts of video call etiquette.

‍DO:

• Place your laptop or phone on a table and sit on a chair, like you're at a desk.
• Turn the light on.
• Check if your mic is on before you go onto the call.
• Sharing a presentation? Check you know how to avoid fumbling around with “Let me just shaaaaaare my screen.”
• Make an effort. You probably don’t have to wear a suit, but at least brush your hair. 
• Get the other persons name right, it's literally written down in front of them.

DON'T:

• Sit so close to the camera so your face takes up the entire screen in disturbingly high-definition detail.
• Sit on the sofa in the dark. 
• Take your call from the car.
• Take the "working from home" aesthetic to its limits by joining the call lying horizontally in bed among a graveyard of used tissues and KitKat wrappers.
• Fill every pause with a series of awkward nervous giggles and sharp exhales into the microphone.
• Stare dead into the camera.
• It’s okay to look at yourself in the corner the whole time (we all do it) but try to keep it subtle.

If it’s going horribly, which sometimes, it will! Here are some fun bonus round games to play to tell your friends a good horror story:

• Keep looking off-screen vacantly and nod slowly like you’re talking to a ghostly figure.
• Remind them you're an expert multitasker by brushing your teeth, squatting and assembling an IKEA knagglig at the same time.
• Start power stance-ing and flexing your muscles while grunting.
• Ask if they want to hear your Garageband remixes.
• Show them your meme account from Year 11.
• Pull out a sock puppet and tell them you’re an aspiring ventriloquist. 

Good luck! <3