Tech tips: 'be you' with a pic

Thanks to technology, we have many ways to connect remotely, but the personal touch is still important. Profile pics can help.

We have countless ways to connect and communicate through technology, for work and beyond it, but at heart humans are still social creatures. Using profile pictures on your email profile and other platforms can make a big difference. These are just some of the reasons:

• People are drawn to faces – a message on email or another collaboration platform is often more compelling to look at with a face attached
• People often remember faces – putting a ‘face’ to your name helps people remember you, and provides another set of information about you, reinforcing your identity
• People like ‘people’ – a reminder that you are a living breathing human being, not just an email address or a set of letters on a screen, can help make your message or request more persuasive, friendlier, and more appealing to respond to.

Most commonly used platforms have the option of attaching a picture to your profile. Find out more about some of them at the links below:

• Microsoft 365 (Office)
• Microsoft Teams
• Zoom
• Box

Staff Directory and Researcher Rrofiles

Don't forget that you can also add your picture to your listing in the University staff directory, and for researchers, you can set up a Researcher Profile.

Videoconferencing

Of course, if you are videoconferencing, the ‘real you’ via video is preferable to a picture of you, but if you prefer to ‘dial in’ without video, or video is not available, a profile picture is the next best thing.

Consistency of profile pics

There is something to be said for using the same profile picture across platforms to reinforce who ‘you’ are, for recognisability and the image you want to project, but you may also want to have slightly different pictures for different uses. For example, a more informal (but not too informal) picture may be preferable for your profile picture for team meetings on MS Teams, whereas a more corporate headshot would be suitable for your LinkedIn profile or University website bio.