Lighting and avoiding nostril view: Room Rater book helps you look your best over Zoom

At the height of the pandemic we all saw on-camera interviews go from being in person to being done on Zoom. A new book, co-authored by a Vancouver woman, is out with tips of how to ensure your background is the best it can be.

Jessie Bahrey is the person behind the ever-popular Twitter account Room Rater. She joined Drex on Jack Thursday morning, discussing “How to Zoom Your Room: Room Rater’s Ultimate Style Guide,” which she co-authored with Claude Taylor.

Among the reporters’ rooms Bahrey rated was that of CityNews Vancouver Legislative Reporter Liza Yuzda. She gave her a 10/10 for her art, lighting, and accessories.

Checking in on a Room Rater favourite. Art. Warm lighting. Pineapple necklace. 14 months of tireless pandemic reporting is a 10/10. @LizaYuzda @CityNewsVAN #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/XkLYP4RjUo

— Room Rater (@ratemyskyperoom) May 27, 2021

The first Vancouver room Bahrey rated was the one from which Keith Baldrey reported from for Global News.

“Originally, we rated it a five because he did not have books,” she recalled, adding she believes that rating led to the addition of books in the background.

“And he did not have the plants. It was just pretty much the Rose Garden view from the back, kind of blurry … But he played along. I think he got his 10 out of 10 within three weeks.”

Bahrey emphasizes she’s not interior designer.

“We were just judging people … I mean, my friends and I were commenting on how different people looked when they were out of the studio. I mean, we were a bit catty with the makeup and the clothes and all that,” she admitted.

However, she also believes Room Rater contributed to a sense of “togetherness” during the pandemic.

“As we started growing and getting viral, people I think felt an affinity to seeing people that were dealing with laundry or pets, or kids photobombing. I actually decided that we were going to make that a plus, because there was a lot of people that were saying, ‘How unprofessional.’ We decided to give extra points for the kids and the pets that dropped in unexpectedly.”

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The point of her book is to give people tips on how to improve the aesthetics of their Zoom background.

“We learned tricks along the way that everybody could do … Wanted to show that you didn’t have to have a palatial house, you didn’t have to have a ton of money and time. There are tricks that anybody can do with no money and probably just move around furniture in their house,” she told JackFM.

She says lighting is key, noting most people are under-lit. She says this can often be fixed by rearranging existing lighting rather than splurging on a ring light.

Another thing to avoid is what she calls “nostril view.”

“[The] camera is too low and you’re just looking at somebody’s nostrils.”

This can be avoided by stacking books to keep the camera or computer at eye level.

The most famous reply Bahrey ever received was from Hillary Clinton.

“We were just starting to get the hang of it and we had no idea this was going to go viral at all at the time. The last rating that I did before I went to bed was Hillary, and I gave her a nine.”

She went to bed and didn’t think anything more of it.

“I noticed around 4:30 or 5 a.m., I had 17 texts, one of them was from my mom, saying ‘Look on your account. You’ve got to see who replied.'”

Clinton said she’d work harder for that 10/10.

Thank you! I’ll keep striving for that highest, hardest glass ceiling, the elusive 10/10.

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 29, 2020