文章來源：《經(jīng)濟學人》Apr 17th 2023 期 Business 欄目How?to?thrive?in?the?video?age

?

The pandemic embedded video into the workplace. Workers who had never previously been on camera suddenly spent every hour of the day getting used to the sight of themselves and their colleagues on screen. Executives realised that they could send video messages to their workforces rather than having to convene town halls.

疫情將視頻嵌入了工作場所。以前從未出現(xiàn)在鏡頭前的員工突然要花上一天中的每一個小時來習慣自己和同事出現(xiàn)在屏幕上。高管們意識到，他們可以向員工發(fā)送視頻信息，而不必在大廳里召開會議。

?

There is no going back. Blogs have become vlogs. Meetings are now recorded as a matter of course, so that people can fail to watch them back later. Some firms routinely ask applicants to record answers to certain questions on video, so that people can see how well prospective recruits communicate.

沒有回頭路了。博客變成了視頻博客?，F(xiàn)在，錄制會議是理所當然的事情，這樣人們以后就可以稍后再看回放了。一些公司會例行要求應聘者將某些問題的答案錄成視頻，這樣人們就可以看到潛在候選人的溝通能力。

?

Since video has become more central to work, it pays to be good at it. Being a star in the video age means having the right set-up, speaking well and listening well. Workers can improve under their own steam, but companies can help, too.

由于視頻在工作中變得越來越重要，擅長視頻是值得的。在視頻時代，成為“明星”意味著要有正確的配置，善于表達，也善于聆聽。員工可以通過憑借自己的努力來提高，但公司也可以提供幫助。

?

To see what the right set-up looks like, just observe the range of images on your next video-conferencing call. It will probably be a complete mishmash. Some people will be bathed in the warm glow of a ring light; others will be emerging from the shadows like the Emperor Palpatine. Some will have high-definition cameras that show off every pore and follicle; others will be smeared across the screen. Some will be Hollywood types, observing the rule of thirds by positioning themselves slightly off-centre; others seem to have learned their craft from “The Blair Witch Project”.

要了解正確的配置是什么樣的，只需在下次視頻會議電話中觀察圖像的范圍。圖像范圍內(nèi)很可能是大雜燴。有的人會沐浴在溫暖的環(huán)形光環(huán)中;其他人則會像帕爾帕廷皇帝一樣從陰影中走出來。有些會有高清攝像頭，能夠展示每個毛孔和毛囊; 其他人在屏幕上是模糊的。有些人是好萊塢式的，通過稍微偏離中心的位置來遵守三分法; 其他人似乎是從《女巫布萊爾》中學來的。

?

There is a limit to how level the playing-field between home offices can be, when living arrangements between employees differ so greatly. Not everyone needs to look like an A-lister: people who regularly make presentations or see clients have greater claim on fancier gear. Some people are photogenic, others less so. But this range in video quality can nonetheless be narrowed.

當員工之間的居住安排差異很大時，家庭辦公室之間的競爭環(huán)境是有限的。并不是每個人都需要看起來像一個一線明星: 定期做演講或會見客戶的人更有資格擁有更華麗的裝備。有些人很上鏡，有些人則不然。但視頻質(zhì)量的這一范圍仍然可以縮小。

?

A study published last year by Katherine Karl of the University of Tennessee and her co-authors looked at workers’ most common complaints about video-conferencing meetings: camera angles, proximity to the screen and bad lighting all feature in the list of frustrations. Whether providing decent home-working equipment or just giving feedback on how people appear on screen, employers can help everyone improve their video game.

田納西大學的凱瑟琳·卡爾和她的共同作者去年發(fā)表了一項研究，調(diào)查了員工對視頻會議最常見的抱怨: 攝像頭角度、離屏幕太近、光線不好，這些都在不滿列表中。無論是提供體面的家庭辦公設(shè)備，還是僅僅就人們在屏幕上的表現(xiàn)給出反饋，雇主都可以幫助每個人改進他們的視頻競賽。

?

Advice on how to present well on video is not that different to advice on presenting in general. But there are some specific pitfalls with video. One is where to look. Staring into the camera is unnatural; some advise pinning a photo of someone you respect right by the lens (whether you would really use the opportunity to talk to Volodymyr Zelensky to tell him about your product road map is another question). But looking at the camera is harder if you are referring to notes on the screen at the same time. The speaker whose eyes dart from one to the other is in fear of imminent attack; the speaker who gazes at a point somewhere just off to the left of the camera is appearing in “The Office”. Teleprompter software may be the right answer.

關(guān)于如何在視頻上做演講的建議和一般演講的建議并沒有什么不同。但視頻也有一些特殊的陷阱。一個是你該看向哪里。盯著鏡頭是不自然的;一些人建議把你尊敬的人的照片貼在鏡頭旁(你是否真的會利用這個機會與弗拉基米爾·澤連斯基交談，告訴他你的產(chǎn)品路線圖是另一個問題)。但如果你同時看著屏幕上的筆記，看鏡頭就更難了。說話的人，目光從一個人轉(zhuǎn)到另一個人，是害怕即將到來的“攻擊”; 那個盯著攝像機左邊某個點的說話者出現(xiàn)在《辦公室》中。提詞器軟件可能是正確的答案。

?

Another danger lies in the temptation to use technology just because it is there. The same rule of thumb that should stop you exploring the animations menu in PowerPoint also applies to pre-recorded video. Don’t do jump cuts or special effects unless you really know what you are doing. This is not “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Quarters”.

另一個危險在于僅僅因為技術(shù)的存在就想要使用它的誘惑。同樣的經(jīng)驗法則應該會阻止你在PowerPoint中探索動畫菜單，同樣適用于預先錄制的視頻。除非你真的知道自己在做什么，否則不要做跳躍剪輯或特效。這不是電影《兩桿大煙槍》。

?

Perhaps the least recognised skill in the video age is listening well. After all, one of the great boons of the virtual meeting is that you can get actual work done in it—being able to turn your camera off when your time is being royally wasted may be the pandemic’s greatest gift to productivity. And at the other end of the scale, one of video’s great downsides is how distracting it can be: as well as checking yourself out and following the online chat, you can critique someone’s new wallpaper while watching their next-tile neighbour shovel noodles into their mouth. It takes real effort to stay focused in such circumstances.

在視頻時代，最不被認可的技能或許是善于傾聽。畢竟，虛擬會議的最大好處之一是你可以在會議中完成實際工作——當你的時間被大量浪費時，你可以關(guān)掉相機，這可能是疫情對生產(chǎn)力的最大禮物。另一方面，視頻的一大缺點是它太分散人的注意力: 除了查看自己的狀態(tài)和關(guān)注在線聊天，你還可以一邊評論別人的新壁紙，一邊看著隔壁的鄰居往嘴里塞面條。在這種情況下，要保持專注是需要付出很大努力的。

?

The wrong way for firms to tackle the problem of inattentiveness is to insist that cameras stay on or use artificial intelligence to analyse the sentiment of meeting participants in real time. As if life were not intolerable enough, imagine having to nod and smile dementedly the whole time in case an algorithm decides you are insufficiently engaged. The right way for companies to respond is to make meetings shorter and more relevant. Whether you are on camera or in the room, it is always easier to listen when there is something worth hearing.

企業(yè)解決注意力不集中問題的方法是堅持讓攝像頭一直開著，或者使用人工智能實時分析會議參與者的情緒，這是錯誤的。好像生活還不夠讓人難以忍受似的，想象一下，為了防止算法判定你不夠投入，你不得不一直瘋狂地點頭和微笑。企業(yè)應對的正確方式是讓會議更短、更切題。無論你是在鏡頭前還是在房間里，當有值得聽的東西時，傾聽總是更容易。