As Slack notifications ring off the walls of our rooms and leggings become our full-time work attire, telecommuting has become our new normal. Since the coronavirus pandemic forced us all to stay home, Zoom (opens in new tab), the video chat service that has become so famous, has taken its place, and your inbox is filled with emails containing your Zoom meeting ID and six-digit Zoom password

Well, now you have a Zoom meeting ID and a six-digit Zoom password.

Now, if you are like your neighbor, the perfect Zoom meeting is one where you don't have to show your face. It's not that you don't want your colleagues to see your outfit or that you don't want them to see your dirty T-shirt from school, it's that you don't know what to do in front of the camera. But don't worry. This mother hen has a simple trick that will make you look chic at your next Zoom meeting. Here are a few hacks I swear by.

Turn on Zoom, like a Snapchat filter. Go to the bottom left corner of your screen, find "Video Settings" and check the box that says "Touch Up My Appearance." (Opens in a new tab.)"

Zoom describes the webcam beauty filter as "a skin softening effect to minimize imperfections." I may or may not use it for my 3 p.m. meeting.

This trick starts with you and a tower of appropriate books. The goal is to keep your co-workers from looking down their noses at you.

The right keyboard height for typing is not the right height for the camera to see your face during a video call. The laptop should be elevated so that the camera lens is at your eye level.

You can easily hack this by placing a couple of books (about 5 or 6 is recommended) under the laptop to raise the height of the laptop so that your eyes are in line with the camera.

I'll say this too: if you don't have any books lying around (sorry!) ), you can always purchase an adjustable laptop stand to give your office space a more professional feel.

For meetings that aren't all business, Zoom has a great tool: virtual backgrounds. If your computer is up-to-date, you can upload your own images. That's all you need to do: in your next Zoom meeting, click the "^" arrow next to Start/Stop Video and click Select Virtual Background. It will surely bring laughter and lighten up the atmosphere of the meeting.

Bonus points if you have colleagues like this.

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