Is There Proper Etiquette for Videoconferencing? The Esquire guy tackles the subtle art of the video call, from where to look to which headset to wear to how loudly to speak to, well, whether or not pants are optional.

The hierarchy of communication in descending order of effectiveness: talking in person, yelling in person, talking on the phone, yelling on the phone, video conferencing (while talking or yelling, take your pick).

Video conferencing is one of those things that we all generally endorse but is still new enough that we haven't fully adapted to it. We're not yet sure where to look. We're not sure when to speak. We're not used to seeing exactly what we look like when we're pretending to be interested.

And that's the thing: Video conferencing assumes that seeing people (and ourselves, if we want) is a virtue. We could argue against this. We could argue that seeing people is totally overrated. But we'll do that some other time. Anyway, video conferencing allows us to see things, too. Which can be extremely helpful. Especially if the thing is a product we're trying to get someone to buy. Or a handy chart on an easel. Or a thumb in the up position.