4 tips for finding the best virtual backgrounds for Zoom meetings

Here at Duarte, we not only teach communication skills, but we also teach people how to present themselves. In this new virtual world, we have to consider how we appear and communicate virtually — like on Zoom meetings — and what that means for how our audience perceives our brand.

By now you’ve probably seen some silly screenshots of things happening in people’s backgrounds while on Zoom meetings:

• A messy house
• Weird art
• A quasi-dressed partner getting milk in the kitchen …

I’ve done some on-the-ground field research testing out Zoom backgrounds, and hope my findings help you when choosing the best Zoom background for different presentation needs.

Determine the need for the right virtual background

I realized that on certain calls, it made sense to let people into my life and show my “reality” background (where everything is carefully curated.) A great use for your “reality” background includes:

• 1 one 1’s
• Team standups
• Team virtual lunches
• Meetings where you are comfortable with all the participants, typically internal colleagues only

For other times, I use a Zoom background. This is great to use for:

• Client/prospect meetings
• Meetings with bosses or C-suite
• Large interdepartmental meetings
• Interviews
• Meetings where you’re conducting a virtual presentation
• Meetings where you will be doing a lot of talking and you don’t want distractions in your background

When I’m using a Zoom background for these scenarios, I find it’s better to keep it subtle, unless the background is part of a fun event, like a colleague’s birthday or their work anniversary.

Today, I find myself planning how Duarte’s social videos should look. What appears in the background behind each designer has to be considered. Each person’s background needed to be orchestrated in a similar style. It would help all the videos look more similar and cohesive from person to person.

I wanted to create something consistent in the videos despite all the designers having different things going on behind them, so I started trying out different backgrounds that I found free on Unsplash.  It’s fairly easy to find beautiful backgrounds these days. My goal was to see how the Zoom technology might make them morph around the subject in the camera. Here I am stretching during a meeting in front of a mountain.

4 lessons to consider when selecting the best Zoom background

Here are 4 lessons I learned through this process that you can apply to your virtual communication toolkit when choosing virtual backgrounds for Zoom meetings.

1. Consider contrast and use it to your advantage

Before you choose a Zoom background, consider the contrast of you vs. the virtual background.

• Do you have mostly light colors behind you?
• Is your hair brown, blonde, or red?
• Is the back of your chair usually visible?

Consider these questions in terms of contrast. Ideally, the subject (you) should stand out from the background (your room).

Consider hair color

For example, if you have blond hair in a lightly colored room, it’s going to be harder for you to keep your shape separate from the zoom background. And if you have dark hair and you’re in front of a dark wall or dark chair, same problem.

Consider chair color

If you have a Zoom background in place, and your chair pops in and out of the video frame, and it’s the same color as your hair or clothing, cover the back of the chair so it contrasts with your hair, perhaps a closer color to your in-real-life room background.

For example, my chair is black, I’m wearing a black shirt, and I have really dark hair. No matter what background I applied in Zoom (including the wooden background below) my chair kept morphing into the frame! I don’t mind if it’s showing, but I want it to show all the time or not at all.

When I covered the chair with a towel, it stopped morphing into the frame so much. By the way, this is me gesticulating as I normally would at some point during a call. We don’t realize how much we move when we’re seated in the comfort of our own homes.

Tip: Watch a Zoom recording of yourself! It’s eye-opening to see if parts of you or the background morph in and out, causing unnecessary (and unwanted) distractions.

Consider your outfit

Another recommendation is to wear something that is darker or lighter than your background so that the Zoom background can hold its shape around you more firmly.

Consider physical items in your background

The fake fox head that I have on my back wall keeps popping into my video every time I lean back, which I’m often doing while on a long video call. Fantastic Mr. Fox. It is very brightly colored against a white background. Plus, Zoom is looking for faces, so it’s going to constantly find Mr. Fox’s face.

There’s not much you can do about this particular challenge when using a Zoom background, except maybe remove objects that stand out behind you. Personally, I love this fox, and no way, no how am I moving it. But you decide for yourself, of course. Here is my normal background captured on a different day. You can see my fantastic fox is a pretty strong character in my Zoom room.

2. Visual noise can drown out your video subject matter (you)

Zoom backgrounds are fun! I love them, but the level of detail you choose will affect how well you appear. A busier background makes it harder to watch you if you’re in full-screen mode, and harder to see overall.

Consider the blur feature

In my little study, I tried out both subdued and loud backgrounds. On the busier backgrounds, I noticed that if I blurred the image a little it helped the signal (me) pop out of the background (noise), making it easier to see me on the screen. I blurred the background just a smidge on B to soften the lines and reduce the visual noise behind me.

Background from Joel Filipe on Unsplash.com.

Consider the tone you want to set

Also ask yourself, what is the tone I want to set? Which is the better background to convey that I’m serious? Which conveys that I’m fun? If you’re trying to make a first impression for an interview or client meeting, avoiding a busy and fun background is probably a good idea.

You may be both and more, (I am), but when using a background, we need to decide how we want our audience to see us at first glance. Many background options seem pretty and interesting to me.

Backgrounds starting at top left and going clockwise: Ashley Whitlatch, Bernard Hermant, Arthur Mazi, Aida Batres, on Unsplash.com.

3. Finding the best colors for Zoom backgrounds

When I started this exercise, I wanted to see if the color of the Zoom background had any effect on the cutout staying firm around me. So, which background colors worked best?

It turns out it has very little to do with the colors in the background … though it seems to have some effect to consider.

On my shirt, I have a graphic of an abominable snowman. He is white and light blue. When I applied a background with white or blue, the Zoom camera also found the graphic on my shirt and applied a background to it. Not fond of this shape poking up the front of my shirt.

Tip: I’m not sure if this is part of the technology or not, but I noticed it happening. Test your shirt against your Zoom background before any important meetings.

Background by Adriel Kloppenburg on Unsplash.com.

Another thing about color I’ve found is that darker colors don’t cut out around me as well as lighter colors. When I applied this dark image as a background it produced jagged edges around me in the video frame.

That said, when I saw a blond coworker on a dark background, the background around her looked seamless. Not the end of the world, but it looks so messy, and my face is harder to see.

Background by Ameen Fahmy on Unsplash.com.

When I applied this textured brown, I got washed out because it was so close to my skin color in the camera.

Background by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash.com.

I stood out really well and looked professional in this flat turquoise color (which is actually a cutout from an image of a sky) and to me, it almost looks like a studio setting. Ready to start a YouTube channel!

Background by Simone Hutsch on Unsplash.com.

When I tried a gradient, the Zoom cutout around me stuck to my movements really well. The virtual background was not visually noisy, and I appeared in front of it in a very natural way. I would say a subtle gradient is my favorite virtual background in Zoom meetings.

Tip: Use color intentionally. Finding the best colors for Zoom backgrounds will be an individualized thing, so keep at it until you find your perfect match!

Background by Cesar Couto on Unsplash.com.

I feel like this one is a winner. The gradient gives it some depth but the lack of background detail holds well in the video.

4. Acknowledge that pseudo-reality feels weird

When you see virtual backgrounds on Zoom meetings that are streets, cafes, pages from a West Elm catalog, etc., it can feel awkward, especially if your camera has you at an angle that doesn’t match the angle of the image. Check out this tip sheet about framing yourself in your camera along with our things to think about before presenting virtually.

When you adjust the real-looking background to have a slight but realistic blur, it feels more natural and less noticeable. You’ll also stand out more, as you would in real life.

You can see here, my signal-to-noise ratio decreased as I toned down the background. Here is me with a virtual background of a previous Duarte office in Santa Clara, CA. You can see I stand out more when the virtual background has a slight blur.

The Story Place, our town hall at a previous Duarte’s headquarters in Santa Clara, CA.

Here’s me in a coffee shop. It’s strange because the color and lighting look almost real, like a humanoid looks almost real. It’s also really busy in there, which makes it hard to visually read me on the video.

Background by Rod Long on Unsplash.com.

And here’s me floating over a city. I’ll go back to the Duarte office interior image so that I can convey my Duarte brand persona on my business calls better.

Background by Astemir Almov on Unsplash.com.

Final thoughts on virtual background policies

Virtual backgrounds on Zoom meetings can be fun. Virtual backgrounds can save us from the embarrassment of our messy reality. Virtual backgrounds aren’t required (yet), but I can imagine a world that is swiftly approaching where businesses lock down the policy on backgrounds, and some may even require certain backgrounds or ban others.

If this happens, I strongly suggest businesses don’t have only one background for employees to use. We tried this at Duarte and the results felt robotic. Better to have a policy about what kind of virtual background images to use, rather than everyone on the Zoom meetings having the same one. (See image below).

How to get started with finding the best Zoom background for you

We use Zoom at Duarte, but other platforms may also offer some customization. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to change your Zoom background and everything you need to get started with finding your favorite Zoom backgrounds.

Before you start or join your next Zoom meeting, start a Zoom meeting with just yourself, and apply the background. Move around in the frame as you normally might during your meeting and see what happens, then make adjustments.

For more tips on professional virtual presentations, take our Presenting Virtually™ course.

This article was originally published on April 3, 2020. It has been updated in September 2024 for relevancy.