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Bartleby
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How to thrive in the video age
視頻時代制勝指南
Screen presence is now a feature of the modern office.
如今，出現在屏幕上成了現代辦公室的一個特征。
The pandemic embedded video into the workplace.
疫情將視頻嵌入了辦公場所。
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.
以前從未出現在鏡頭前的員工突然要時刻習慣看到自己和同事出現在屏幕上。
Executives realised that they could send video messages to their workforces rather than having to convene town halls.
高管們意識到，他們可以向員工發送視頻信息，而不必召開會議。
There is no going back.
開弓沒有回頭箭。
Blogs have become vlogs.
文字博客已經變成了視頻博客。
Meetings are now recorded as a matter of course, so that people can fail to watch them back later.
現在會議也被理所應當地錄下來，這樣之后人們就不會再看了。
Some firms routinely ask applicants to record answers to certain questions on video, so that people can see how well prospective recruits communicate.
一些公司經常要求應聘者錄制視頻來回答某些問題，這樣人們就可以看到未來新員工的溝通能力如何。
Since video has become more central to work, it pays to be good at it.
由于視頻在工作中變得越來越重要，所以能玩轉視頻是有利的。
Being a star in the video age means having the right set-up, speaking well and listening well.
成為視頻時代的明星意味著要有正確的機位布景、良好的聽說能力。
Workers can improve under their own steam, but companies can help, too.
員工可以自行提高這些能力，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.
要知道正確的機位布景是什么樣子，只需在下一次視頻會議中觀察一下出現的一系列圖像。
It will probably be a complete mishmash.
畫面可能是個大雜燴。
Some people will be bathed in the warm glow of a ring light; others will be emerging from the shadows like the Emperor Palpatine.
一些人沐浴在環形補光燈的溫暖光芒中，另一些人則像帕爾帕廷皇帝一樣從陰影中浮現出來。
Some will have high-definition cameras that show off every pore and follicle; others will be smeared across the screen.
一些人配備高清攝像頭，展示著每一個毛孔和毛囊，另一些人則像被涂抹在屏幕上。
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”.
一些人是好萊塢范，他們遵守三分法構圖規則，把自己放在略微偏離中心的位置，另一些人的構圖技巧則像是從《女巫布萊爾》中學到的。
There is a limit to how level the playing-field between home offices can be, when living arrangements between employees differ so greatly.
在員工的生活安排差異非常大的情況下，居家辦公室之間的競爭公平程度是有限的。
Not everyone needs to look like an A-lister: people who regularly make presentations or see clients have greater claim on fancier gear.
并不是每個人都需要看起來像一線明星：經常做展示或見客戶的人對高級設備有更高的要求。
Some people are photogenic, others less so.
有些人很上鏡，有些人不那么上鏡。
But this range in video quality can nonetheless be narrowed.
但視頻質量的這種差距仍然可以縮小。
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.
田納西大學的凱瑟琳·卡爾和她的合著者去年發表了一項研究，調查了員工對視頻會議最常見的抱怨：攝像頭的角度、離屏幕太近以及光線不佳都在令人煩惱的清單上。
Whether providing decent home-working equipment or just giving feedback on how people appear on screen, employers can help everyone improve their video game.
無論是提供像樣的家庭辦公設備，還是給人們在屏幕上的樣子提出反饋，雇主都可以幫助每個人把這個視頻游戲玩得更好。
Advice on how to present well on video is not that different to advice on presenting in general.
如何做優秀的視頻展示的建議與對普通展示的建議沒有太大不同。
But there are some specific pitfalls with video.
但視頻也有一些特定的陷阱。
One is where to look.
其中之一是看哪里。
Staring into the camera is unnatural; some advise pinning a photo of someone you respect right by the lens
盯著攝像頭看不夠自然，一些人建議在鏡頭旁釘一張你尊敬的人的照片
(whether you would really use the opportunity to talk to Volodymyr Zelensky to tell him about your product road map is another question).
(你是否真的會利用這個機會與澤連斯基交談，向他介紹你的產品規劃圖則是另一個問題)。
But looking at the camera is harder if you are referring to notes on the screen at the same time.
但如果你同時查看屏幕上的筆記，那么看向攝像頭就更難了。
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”.
目光來回跳動的演講者像是害怕即將到來的攻擊，而凝視著鏡頭靠左邊某處的演講者則像是美劇《辦公室》里的角色。
Teleprompter software may be the right answer.
提詞器軟件可能是正確答案。
Another danger lies in the temptation to use technology just because it is there.
另一個危險在于，僅僅因為技術存在就忍不住想使用技術。
The same rule of thumb that should stop you exploring the animations menu in PowerPoint also applies to pre-recorded video.
阻止你探索PPT動畫菜單玩法的經驗法則，也適用于預先錄制的視頻。
Don’t do jump cuts or special effects unless you really know what you are doing.
除非你真的知道自己在干什么，否則不要做跳躍剪輯或特效。
This is not “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Quarters”.
這不是電影《兩桿大煙槍》。
Perhaps the least recognised skill in the video age is listening well.
或許視頻時代最不為人所知的技能就是善于傾聽。
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.
畢竟，虛擬會議最大的好處之一就是你可以在開會時干點實事--當你的時間被華麗地浪費時，你可以關掉相機，這可能是疫情送給生產力最大的禮物。
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.
在天平的另一端，視頻的一大缺點是它容易讓人分心：除了看看自己和關注在線聊天之外，你還可以一邊批評別人的新墻紙，一邊看著他隔壁的人把面條塞進嘴里。
It takes real effort to stay focused in such circumstances.
在這種情況下，要保持專注真的需要付出努力。
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.
對于公司來說，解決注意力不集中問題的錯誤方法是要求攝像頭一直打開，或者用人工智能來實時分析會議參與者的情緒。
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.
好像生活還不夠讓人無法忍受似的，想象一下，你必須一直瘋狂地點頭和微笑，以免算法判定你不夠投入。
The right way for companies to respond is to make meetings shorter and more relevant.
企業的正確應對方式是縮短會議時間，讓會議內容更切題。
Whether you are on camera or in the room, it is always easier to listen when there is something worth hearing.
無論是在鏡頭前還是在房間里，有一些值得聽的東西時，你才更容易去傾聽。
