A trick for easing Zoom anxiety

Michelle Woo
Forge
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1 min readMay 18, 2021

📌 Today’s tip: Pin the friendliest face on Zoom.

It’s been more than a year since many of us started working remotely and big Zoom meetings are still as awkward as ever. When it’s your turn to speak, you scan the grid of faces: Some look bored, others look way too intense. Hey, is that guy in the lower-right corner slurping soup?! Here’s a trick for easing the anxiety, shared by Laquesha Bailey on Medium: Pin the friendliest-looking meeting participant. “That way,” she explains, “it feels like you’re just having a casual conversation with that one person and not a whole crowd of people.” Your secret Zoom buddy never has to know of their good deed.

💻 More from Forge on navigating remote work:

Wear Pants, and Other Things Remote Workers Really Should Do
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How to Loneliness-Proof Your Work-From-Home Life
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I Promise I’m Paying Attention — I Just Have Resting Bored Face
Read more >>

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Michelle Woo
Forge
Writer for

Author of Horizontal Parenting: How to Entertain Your Kid While Lying Down (Chronicle Books)