Energy Projection for Video Dates
Project energy through a camera so a video first date lands like a real one
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 7
- Confidence
- 70%
Moore's argument is mechanical: energy that reads as normal in a room reads as dead through a lens, so you have to deliberately over-project. Her illustration is asking her assistant for a matcha latte — flat in person is fine, flat on camera is nothing. Around that sit four levers. Posture: arms uncrossed, shoulders back, head up, chest and neck revealed rather than crunched in on yourself. Eyes: rather than the dead screen-stare, set an intention — imagine flirting, crinkle the eyes, smile, and let them carry energy, which she says you can rehearse in a mirror. Content: skip the weather, talk about the best things in your life and experiences that evoke emotion, since emotion is what keeps people interested. Differentiation: one small deliberate touch — a single rose held up to the camera, a joke in your holding image — because nobody wants to get on a boring call. Underneath it all, get into your body rather than your head, since analysing yourself contracts your energy and contracted energy is not attractive.
Origin
Extracted from Young and Profiting — Moore developed the method coaching clients through pandemic-era Zoom dating, drawing on her own on-camera work.
Core principles
- 01A camera flattens energy, so baseline behaviour reads as dead
- 02Small talk about the weather kills interest; emotion-evoking stories hold it
- 03Open posture signals confidence; crunching in signals the opposite
- 04What you feel inside is what projects outside
- 05A small deliberate touch beats a polished-but-generic appearance
How to run it
- 1
Prep the physical baseline
Sort lighting, hydrate properly, and put on moisturiser. Moore's claim is that dehydration shows up as contracted energy, and that cells need water to flow for you not to read as tight.
Pro tip Do the hydration hours before, not in the five minutes before you join.
- 2
Dial the energy above your in-person baseline
Deliberately project more than feels natural. Her test case: saying 'hey, could you get me a matcha latte' flatly works in a room, but on camera you have to lift it. Imagine the person in front of you and push your energy at them.
Pro tip Aim to feel slightly over the top — it reads as normal on the other end.
Watch out This is not performing a fake persona. It is transmitting the real one at higher amplitude.
- 3
Open the body
Don't cross your arms — it communicates the wrong message. Shoulders back, head up, chest and neck revealed rather than crunched over yourself. Moore's frame for the open front is 'I'm exposing myself to you'.
Pro tip Set the posture before you join and check it in the self-view once, then forget it.
Watch out Moore is explicit this is about openness, not cleavage — a turtleneck only works if it is genuinely part of your style.
- 4
Put life in the eyes
The default when looking at a computer is dead eyes. Instead set an intention — imagine you're flirting, or recall a moment that carried that charge — then crinkle the eyes and smile without moving the body.
Pro tip Practise it in a mirror until you can feel the switch between screen-stare and lit eyes.
- 5
Lead with emotion-evoking content
Skip 'hi, how's your day' — it's boring. Talk about the best things in your life and experiences that evoke emotion, because that is what keeps people interested. Nobody cares about the weather unless the snow reminded you of something that mattered.
Pro tip Have two stories ready that you can tell with real feeling rather than reciting.
- 6
Add one deliberate special touch
Do one small thing that displays your personality and makes you stand out — hold up a single rose you got for her, put a joke in your holding image if you're funny. Moore's note for men is that making a visible effort counts, so don't show up in a rumpled hoodie.
Pro tip One touch, not five. The point is a signal of effort, not a production.
Watch out Moore's blunt version: women's standards of men are typically so low that showing up with any effort already stands out.
- 7
Drop into your body before you join
If you catch yourself in your head analysing your own energy, take deep breaths, feel the energy in your feet and bring it up through your body. Connect to the body more than the thoughts and they will feel you more.
Pro tip Pair it with an internal line — 'I know you want me', 'I'm the best on the planet' — since what you feel inside is what projects outside.
Watch out Self-analysis mid-call contracts your energy in real time, which is the exact thing that reads as unattractive.
In the wild
Moore demonstrated the whole principle live on the show. She said that if her assistant walked in the room and she said 'hey Elle, could you get me a matcha latte' in an ordinary flat tone, that works fine in person — but on video, that same delivery is not enough. On camera she has to lift it: 'hey Elle, can you get me a matcha latte'. People who work in front of a camera know this, she said; you have to project your energy through the lens because the lens takes a layer off. She paired it with the eye drill — asking Hala to imagine flirting without moving her body, just crinkling the eyes and smiling, which Hala did on the spot.
→ Hala executed the eye switch live and Moore confirmed the change was immediately visible on camera.
A man on a Zoom first date buys a single rose before the call. A few minutes in, rather than opening with how his week was, he holds it up to the camera and says he knows they're meeting on Zoom for the first time but he wanted to give her this rose. He keeps his arms uncrossed and shoulders back, and instead of the weather he tells her about the best thing that happened to him that month, told with actual feeling.
→ The call stops being one of a dozen interchangeable video calls and becomes the one she remembers.
Common mistakes
Running your in-person baseline on camera
Energy that is perfectly normal in a room transmits as flat and lifeless through a lens. Without deliberate over-projection, you read as boring even when you are engaged.
Filling the call with safe small talk
'Hi, how's your day' and weather chat give the other person nothing to feel. Moore's point is that emotion is what holds interest, so the content has to evoke it.
Analysing your own energy mid-call
Being in your head monitoring how you're coming across contracts your energy in real time, which is exactly what reads as unattractive. The fix is breath and body, not more thinking.
Is it for you?
Best for
Anyone doing first dates or first meetings on video who keeps getting polite non-follow-ups.
Not ideal for
Someone whose issue is who they are meeting rather than how they show up — no amount of projection fixes bad matching.
From the transcript
“when you're on video and people who are in front of camera know this you have to project your energy”
“nobody cares about the weather unless the the most beautiful snow happened today and it reminded you of this time when you were five”
“when we're in our heads and we're analyzing our energy is contracted it's tight it's not as attractive”
From the episode
Nicole Moore: Finding Love and Strengthening Your Relationships
Nicole Moore