How to keep eye contact on video calls (even while reading notes)
On a video call, looking at someone's face makes you look away from them. Here's how to fix the angle with camera placement, notes near the lens and a little practice.
By Abhijeet Naik · · 6 min read
You're looking right at the other person's face, and yet on their screen you seem to be staring at your keyboard. It's one of the oddest things about video calls, and it gets worse the moment you glance at notes. The good news is that most of it comes down to geometry, and geometry is easy to fix.
Why looking at the screen reads as looking away
Your webcam sits above your screen, usually in the bezel at the top. The faces on a call sit in the middle of the screen, several inches below it. When you look at someone's eyes, your gaze points below the lens, so on their end your eyes look lowered. You're giving them your full attention, and it reads as distraction.
Two things make the gap bigger. The first is how far the thing you're looking at is from the lens. Notes at the bottom of the screen, or on a second monitor off to the side, pull your eyes well away from the camera. The second is sitting close. The nearer you are to the screen, the larger the angle between the lens and the middle of the display, so the same glance shows up as a bigger look away.
So the goal isn't to stare at the camera for an hour. It's to keep everything you need to look at, faces and notes alike, as close to the lens as you can, and to look straight into it at the moments that matter.
Set your camera height and distance
Before you worry about notes, get the camera itself in the right place. A few small changes make a big difference.
- Lens at eye level or slightly above. A laptop flat on a desk puts the camera below your eyes, so viewers look up your nose and you seem to look down at them. Raise the laptop on a stand or a stack of books until the lens is level with your eyes.
- About an arm's length away. Somewhere around two to three feet keeps the angle between the lens and the screen small and frames you naturally. Much closer, and every glance becomes obvious.
- Head and shoulders in frame. Leave a little space above your head. If your face fills the frame, small eye movements look large.
- Light in front of you. A window or lamp behind the screen lights your eyes so people can actually see where you're looking. A bright window behind you turns you into a silhouette.
- Use the screen your camera is on. With an external webcam on top of one monitor, keep the call and your notes on that monitor, not on the one beside or below it.
Put your notes as close to the lens as possible
This is the single biggest fix. The closer the words are to the camera, the less your eyes have to move, and the less anyone can tell you're reading. Here are the common approaches, roughly from worst to best:
- Notes on paper or a second monitor. Your eyes leave the camera completely. Fine for a quick glance, but obvious if you read for more than a sentence.
- A notes window in the middle of your screen. Better, but your eyes still drop well below the lens, and the window may show up when you share your screen.
- A sticky note or small window pushed to the top center. Much closer. Keep it narrow so your eyes don't sweep from side to side.
- Text anchored directly under the webcam. This is as close as you can get without teleprompter glass. Your eyes stay a short distance from the lens the whole time.
If you can, move the video of the person you're talking to up toward the camera as well. Resize the call window and place it at the top of the screen, so looking at faces and reading notes both keep your eyes high.
The notch approach
A notch teleprompter puts your script in a small black bar at the top center of the screen, right below the webcam, much like the notch that sits around the camera on some laptops and phones. Because the text is anchored under the lens, the line you're reading is never far from where people expect your eyes to be.
Lenslines brings this idea to Windows. It opens the notch on whichever screen your webcam is on, so it lands under a laptop's built-in camera or under an external webcam on your main display. You can drag it along the top edge or resize it, and the text can scroll with your voice: it moves while you speak and pauses when you stop. It also stays out of your screen shares and recordings in apps that use Windows' standard screen capture, which is nearly all of them, including Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet.
Whatever prompter you use, keep it narrow and set the reading line near the top. A short line of text means your eyes barely move sideways, and a reading line close to the lens keeps your gaze almost level with it. The guide to teleprompter settings for webcam recording covers font size and spacing in detail.
Practice looking into the lens
Even with notes right under the camera, there's a difference between looking near the lens and looking into it. The second is what makes people feel you're talking to them. You don't need to do it constantly. Aim for the moments that carry weight.
- Opening and closing lines. Learn your first and last sentences well enough to say them straight to the camera.
- Questions. When you ask the other person something, look into the lens, then back to their face to watch the answer.
- Key points. Read the line, lift your eyes to the lens for the last few words, then return to the text.
- Listening. While someone else talks, it's fine to watch their face. That's what listening looks like in person, too.
Practice with a recording rather than a live call. Record a two-minute run, play it back with the sound off, and watch only your eyes. You'll quickly see which lines pull your gaze down and which ones you deliver well. If you're reading a full script, reading it without sounding robotic matters as much as where you look.
Common mistakes
- Reading from the bottom of a long window. As the text scrolls, your eyes drift lower and lower. Keep the line you're reading near the top.
- Text that is too small. If you lean in or squint, people notice. Make the text big enough to read from your normal sitting position.
- Scrolling too fast. When the text gets ahead of you, your eyes chase it and your voice speeds up. Slow it down, or let it follow your voice.
- Wide lines. Long lines make your eyes sweep left to right like a typewriter, which is easy to spot on camera.
- A bright white notes window. It lights your face from one side and can reflect in glasses. Light text on a black background is easier on both.
- Never looking away. Unbroken staring feels strange. Natural glances to the side while you think are normal and make you look human.
- Reading every word of a casual chat. For a conversation, a few bullet points near the lens beat a full script. Save word-for-word scripts for presentations, recordings and updates.
A five-minute setup checklist
- Raise the camera to eye level and sit about an arm's length away.
- Put a light in front of you, not behind you.
- Move the call window toward the top of the screen.
- Place your notes directly under the lens, in a narrow column.
- Record a short test, watch it with the sound off, and adjust.
Do this once and most of the work is done. After that, eye contact on video calls is mostly a habit: keep your notes close to the lens, and look into it when it counts.
Frequently asked questions
Should I look at the camera or the screen on a video call?
Look at the camera while you're speaking, especially for key points and questions, and at the screen while you're listening. Placing the call window and your notes just below the webcam keeps both close, so switching between them is barely visible.
Why do I look like I am looking down on video calls?
Your webcam sits above the screen, so when you look at faces or notes in the middle of the display, your gaze points below the lens. Raising the camera to eye level, sitting a little farther back and moving what you look at closer to the lens all shrink the effect.
How can I read notes on a video call without looking away?
Put your notes directly under the webcam in a narrow column, with the line you're reading near the top. A notch teleprompter does this for you by anchoring the text right below the camera.
Where should my webcam be for video calls?
At or slightly above eye level, centered on you, and roughly an arm's length away. On a laptop, that usually means raising it on a stand or a few books.
Can people tell if you're reading from a teleprompter on a call?
Often, if the text is far from the lens, scrolls too fast or runs in wide lines. With the text right under the camera, a comfortable speed and a natural delivery, it's much harder to notice.
Do I have to look at the camera the whole time?
No. Constant staring can feel unnatural. Look into the lens for your opening, your questions and your key points, and let your eyes move naturally the rest of the time.