You should LOVE your profile picture.  Do you?

You should LOVE your profile picture.  Do you?

|, , |Photography, Profile Pictures, Social Network, Virtual Production

The importance of profile photos.

You may hate to admit it but when you receive a LinkedIn request (or resume/CV), what’s the first thing you look at? The profile photo. And for a good few seconds too, right? Why? Because that photo is telling you something important.


Hopefully it’s telling you this person is confident, professional, approachable, friendly and trustworthy. If that’s the case, if the photo has successfully communicated (albeit superficially) positive traits like these, then the profile pic has done its job: it’s gotten past your subjective (and probably unconscious) set of filters, and kept you interested enough to now read more about that person.

But then there are those profile pics that completely fail. Or should I say, scare you off. And I’m not talking about the faces themselves. Never.  Faces are faces and are all lovely in their own way. So no, I’m referring to the actual photos. What makes these photos so bad is often the result of bad lighting, an inappropriate background, or that the person in the photo is feeling uncomfortable or forcing their expression.  These profile pics seem to be secretly whispering, “I’m actually not very professional”, and can leave you wondering, “if this person doesn’t take seriously, something as important as their own image, then perhaps they don’t take other aspects of their professional life seriously, like the image of my company or the details of my project.” This assumption is obviously unfair and unfounded, but it’s an easy one to make for the simple reason that we’re human and for those of us with the gift of sight, our first assessment of practically everything is visual, even food!

With this in mind, consider your profile pic to be a mini-advertisement of you. I doubt you want that advertisement to communicate mediocrity, insincerity, unfriendliness, arrogance, or “I’m boring and lackadaisical”. This is serious stuff.

And watch out! This mini-advert of you can easily wind up everywhere, not just in social-media circles, but in your WhatsApp profile, your company’s website, an awards ceremony, a press release, …

… or, as you most often see these days, during video-conferencing.  Granted, using a profile pic during a video conference is probably better than seeing you in your pijamas, but at least make sure that the photo you use, the one that everyone in the meeting will be looking at, is a great photo. Because they will be looking at it. And judging it, for as long as that meeting lasts.  A quick aside on video-conferencing: some people (perhaps those without a decent profile pic?) opt to use nothing more than a text of their name on the screen during online meetings.
You may agree with me that that doesn’t exactly create a sense of connection and closeness. In fact, it can be a little cold. Kind of like sitting down for an in-person meeting but avoiding eye contact. It can give across the impression of superiority or that you’re hiding something, especially when others are exposing themselves on live video when you aren’t. It’s a point against you in the trust department. 

So, what if you don’t have a great photo? Get one. Give it the same priority you would give to anything that effects first impressions: hygiene, dress, body-language, etc., because in this world of virtual meetings, your profile pic is now the 1st impression people have of you.

Want to take that photo yourself?

Great! Check out my video on “Essential Lighting Tips” to see how to light yourself in an attractive way using basic materials at home.
Or feel free to contact me with specific questions you’re having.

Remember: you should LOVE your picture. Do YOU?