The Tell-Tale Signals You’ve Lost Your Audience on Video
There is a lot going on in video meetings. Particularly for multi-participants meetings, where people are presenting, taking polls and more, it can feel like you are juggling 10 balls at a time…and still have no idea of whether and when people are engaged with what you are sharing. Video conferencing technology tends to make it even more difficult to read the virtual room. While we are working on technology that will support meeting presenters and facilitators when it comes to understanding engagement virtually, it’s helpful to know what to look for ourselves. In this week’s AMA with Dr. Marono, we answered the question: What are the tell-tale nonverbal cues that can signal that your audience is disengaged/not listening? This is one of the golden powers of video. If you can tell when your audience is with you, and when they are not, you can greatly increase you impact as a virtual communicator. This is knowledge that can elevate professionals in today’s evolving world of work. Check out the video below to hear Dr. Marono and my thoughts on things you can look out for during your next video meeting: Virtual Sapiens is working on technology to fill this important and missing communication loop – and our current products are already helping you ensure you are sending the messages you intend to.
Video As a ‘Need To Have’
So many future of work companies (including yours truly ) sprouted up during the pandemic. When it comes to spotting trends related to video, I wanted to speak with someone who has been on the video bandwagon prior to the pandemic… So I got on a call with Chad Lakin of Shootsta to hear what he had to say about where video is headed, and how we can think about leveraging video effectively as part of our communication strategy. Here are the key takeaways – I highly recommend giving our conversation a watch: The role of video is expanding – from a ‘nice to have’, to a ‘need to have’ Video allows for a humanistic experience and connection – particularly for distributed teams Don’t lose your audience with ‘video overkill’ – be strategic about when you leverage asynchronous video When it comes to developing a comfortable and confident impression on video – you need to put in the reps. This last point in particular bears repeating…many professionals may expect to be able to simply show up on video as they would in person, without realizing that this is a fundamentally different channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZ68hrvacDc Video communication presence, and skills require practice. They require specific feedback, and effort in turning new skills into new muscle memory. We recommend our assessment and Sidekick tools to any professional who relies on video to communicate. And you an try them both out for free!
How Technology Has Evolved To Support Better Communication
It is interesting to look at how technology has evolved to support better communication in general, and over video, in particular. As Dr. Marono mentions in our short conversation on the topic, the importance of nonverbals has actually blossomed during the pandemic. It can appear almost ironic, but removing our ability to see a full person IRL when we communicate important messages has made us all acutely aware of just how important those cues are. Of course, the main driver behind much of the innovation around remote communication has been the loss of this in person connection. Again, ironically, we have discovered a new channel of human communication, one which in fact does celebrate and leverage the nonverbals of important conversations. It is because of this potential that we see so much innovation in this space, whether it’s the work we are doing at Virtual Sapiens, or the work of so many other notable startups and major companies. We have identified a trend of the future – and we are here to improve our ability to communicate, connect, and drive positive impact via new means. Check out our discussion on the topic below: https://youtu.be/QBGwm_IgtPw Have a question? We will be hosting these recorded, AMA once a quarter, reach out to us on Twitter (@vsapiens_ai) to ask yours now!
How to Achieve and Perceive Authenticity With Nonverbals
There’s a reason habit breaking and habit building are such tricky endeavors. Particularly in the world of communication, we often struggle between honing our communication skills, and feeling authentic. Speaking from my experience as a professional ballet dancer and athlete, I can share that building new habits and strengthening new muscles can often feel uncomfortable, difficult, unnatural. But that is what growth is all about. If we are not willing to put ourselves out of our comfort zones, to try out new models, new movements, new vocabulary, we will never have the benefits of discovering new ways to communicate with even more impact. As usual with communication, and nonverbal communication in particular, the questions we ask of ourselves, can often be reflected onto others. For instance, how can I ensure I am coming across with authenticity leads to the question: How can I tell if someone is communicating with authenticity? In this video, Dr. Marono and I take the time to discuss how you can explore new pathways of communication, while staying true to your authentic self. Understanding this question first, is key to then understanding how you can perceive authenticity, and inauthenticity, in others.
Face, torso and hands? Oh my!
A question many professionals are asking themselves in our world of video connection is: How do you combat the lack of “full body package” as you tend to only see a small portion of the body on video? In this short video, check out Dr. Marono’s perspective of the way we make up for any lost cues by placing additional emphasis on the face, the upper body postures (shoulders), arm and hand movements. https://youtu.be/9r75KxDDGMg As we think about the way we show up, we realize there is actually a lot to work with, and be aware of. Since video is the only digital means that allows us to leverage the nonverbals of our facial expressions, our arm and hand gestures and our posture, we should not take these cues lightly. Stay tuned for more short videos featuring Dr. Abbie Maroño, PhD and myself as we explain some of the trickier nonverbals, and how we can update our body language for video conversations. Have a question? We will be hosting these recorded, AMA once a quarter, please reply directly to this email and we will include it in our next recording session!
How to Use Open Palm Gestures…Without Looking Silly
As a follow up to all of the activity featuring hand gestures on video, one of our community members asked our expert advisor, Dr. Marono: How we can make good use of open palm hand gestures, without looking like we are engaging in a criminal arrest? In this short video, check out Dr. Marono’s perspective of the nuance we can use in showing the palms of our hands with more subtlety. As explained in the video, in western cultures, the palms of our hands are the ultimate symbol of genuine openness and honesty. We are quite literally saying, ‘I have nothing to hide/I am not hiding anything’ from a nonverbal perspective. Stay tuned for more short videos featuring Dr. Marono and myself as we explain some of the trickier nonverbals, and how we can update our body language for video conversations. Have a question? We will be hosting recorded, AMA once a quarter, please email us at: support@virtualsapiens-cbgycehwg9f5e4ac.centralus-01.azurewebsites.net with your questions!
Conveying Trustworthiness with Open Palms
Hand gestures on video has become a hot topic. In this article, I shared the main reasons using hand gestures can feel awkward…and also some reasons behind why developing a hand gesture vocabulary is so compelling. Another reason is highlighted by Christina Brady, CRO at Sales Assembly in this post on LinkedIn. It’s easy for our hands to ‘creep’ – our hands look for our phone, they look to click on some tabs, check out email etc. When we are doing other things and appear distracted on video, the other person can easily think we simply don’t care about what they have to say…or their time. One way to ensure your audience knows you are listening and fully present, is to show them your hands. As Brady says: “Verbal and non verbal cues that say “you have my attention” are more important than ever. When your hands are in the frame, they can’t be slacking. They can’t be replying to an email or searching the web.” So we asked Dr. Abbie Marono to share a bit more detail around this nonverbal, and how we can start to think about conveying trustworthiness, and active listening via hand gestures on video. https://youtu.be/FTa4QwccIwY Video requires a refined approach to nonverbal communication. We must be even more aware of what our audience might be experiencing on video, and do everything within our power to ensure the minutes on video are not wasted. Incorporating hand gestures thoughtfully is one new skill to consider – your Sidekick can help remind you during calls too:)
Yes! You Can, and Should, Use Hand Gestures on Zoom
One of our user’s recently shared an important realization from their Virtual Presence Assessment experience. Here it is paraphrased below: “I didn’t realize I could use hand gestures on zoom…or that they could add such value to my virtual communication.” This professional is not alone – quite a few professionals have shared similar sentiments. There are a few reasons why professionals often don’t use hand gestures on video: They feel awkward Don’t know what to do with their hands Don’t realize that their hand gestures are not getting picked up by the lens May have gotten feedback not to use hand gestures because the are ‘distracting’ Hand gestures are a very human element in our communication. Hand gestures help build trust and they help add nuance to what we are saying. Our audience benefit more from a speaker who leverages all aspects of their communication toolkit in a way that is aligned with what they are saying. Necessarily, this must include effective use of hand gestures. Check out the 1 minute video below to hear more about how you can effectively build a hand gesture vocabulary, to increase the efficacy of your time on video. Our Sidekick can act as a helpful reminder on when you have been speaking, and not using your hand gestures effectively. Install your free trial and see for yourself on your next video call!
Debunking Body Language Myths
Nonverbal communication is a largely misunderstood area. While a powerful and essential component of communication and relationship building, it is not a magic wand. Check out this recent round up on Psychology Today, of the top ten body language myths from Joe Navarro and our very own behavioral science expert advisor at Virtual Sapiens, Dr. Abbie Maroño, PhD. My number one message to everyone when discussing body language, is that self-awareness always comes first. Be first aware of your own tendencies, understand them, and decide whether or not they are serving you. The very reason we started our Virtual Sapiens Sidekick with a user focus, as opposed to a broader focus on audience engagement, is because of the power we can tap into through our own self-awareness. When assessing other people, remember that context is king and a single behavior rarely leads to a sound judgement, but rather, to more insightful questions asked and overall deeper relationship building.
Facial Expressions and Building Trust on Video
It is easy to disengage on video – and easier still to forget that we can be seen on video, even when we are not the active speaker. Research shows that having a ‘poker’ face on video, whether intentional or not, decreases our ability to build trusting relationships and makes it hard to effectively collaborate. As was mentioned in a discussion here on LinkedIn this week, our facial expressions can greatly enhance rapport on video. There are a few reasons for this: Actively demonstrating you are engaged, alert, paying attention via your facial expressions – helps your fellow video participants ‘see’ that you are following on and digesting the call activity. Particularly when you are the listener, the speaker is more likely to trust that your reply/interaction takes their account into consideration – that you are a true partner on the call. Since we can lose other signals like taking notes, ‘mm-ing’ and ‘ah-ing’ (due to being on mute), showing how we may be considering other people on video is a necessary component to a dynamic conversation. A big caveat here…we do want to be sure our expressions are aligned with what we want to express, that is to say, with our intention. If we spend the whole time smiling, when really we are confused, it will come as a shock to the others on the call when we don’t behave as they would anticipate based on our nonverbals. As always, awareness is key in this equation. For many people, ‘frozen face’ is very common on video and we have to actively remind ourselves to keep our facial expressions engaged, active and in line with our intentions. This is in fact, the main goal of the Sidekick in-call nudges for facial expressions. If our Sidekick perceives you have been neutral in your facial expression for a period of time, it will send you a gentle, visual nudge reminding you to show you are still part of the virtual room. Check out your Sidekick in an upcoming call and see how you do when it comes to facial expression variation!