Job hunting today may not begin with meeting a person. Reportedly, a Hong Kong startup has developed an AI interview program that reads a candidate's behaviour five times per second — analysing micro-expressions, body language and speech rhythm. Many large organisations now run their first screening round by asking you to record your answers alone to a camera: no interviewer, no reactions, no second chance. Job platforms' interview guides have given "video interviews" a chapter of their own....

There's an evergreen thread online: "Share your 'the wedding MC has lost it' moment." The entries are tear-inducingly funny: "Please welcome the happy couple — the *roast piglets*!" "Groom, you may now lift the *wedding gown*." And one MC who cheerfully invited everyone to enjoy the couple's "memorial montage" — one slip of the tongue away from "growing-up montage", and a wedding turned into a funeral. From behind a screen, it's comedy. But what if the person on that stage next month is you?...

Video meetings, online talks, live streams — I've hosted hundreds of them. Some assume "online" just means moving your stage act in front of a camera. In truth, it's like a stage actor moving into television — the craft is the same craft, but the delivery has to be recalibrated. Do it enough and you'll know: they are two different worlds. The two biggest differences: first, you have to look into the camera; second, there is no audience — no atmosphere to read, no reactions to feed off. Your...