Yes. I would. I wouldn’t care about toys in the background and such–if you’re working from home and have kids, that may be the best you can do. And I totally understand if you’re working in your bedroom.

But, if your bed will appear on camera, it should be made.

Now, please note, I do video conferences from my bedroom all the time, and my bed is often unmade and i keep it out of camera range.

I would certainly care about that, especially if it was in a meeting with people outside of the organization.

Interesting thing I noticed about Colicchio’s feedback, particularly in earlier seasons – while generally constructive, when certain guest judges were on he was much more likely to lean towards mean. The difference was most notable when the late Anthony Bourdain was on – as if Colicchio was more focused on bonding with the guest judge (by being snarky) than on the cheftestants.

So to add 6 (or 5b?): focus on the person you’re giving feedback to – what you’ve observed, and what they need to hear, and don’t get caught up in what your peers/work friends might think.