Engaging through the lens: How to capture & keep their attention.
Many of us are currently adjusting to a ‘new normal’, where instead of our usual face to face meetings, we’re now conducting most, if not all, of our professional lives virtually.
Regardless of whether you’re used to virtual meetings or not, it is arguably more important now than ever to think about how effectively you’re communicating via phone or videoconference.
This is where your non-verbal communication skills become very important. To clarify:
Verbal communication refers to the words you choose to use, either written or spoken.
Non-verbal communication refers to your use of physicality and voice.
Why are non-verbal skills so important?
Effective use of non-verbal communication influences how your audience think and feel about you and what you have to say. We look to more than just words to grasp meaning. There is a reason emojis have taken off as a way to add tone to our written communication!
Your body language during videoconferences, for example, is a key way in which people make judgements about your confidence, credibility and intent. Your voice, on the other hand, indicates emotional light and shade, and can enhance or obstruct clarity. On the phone, we rely on our voice heavily to humanise our message.
In short, when effective non-verbal communication is combined with good verbal communication, it can help you to captivate your listeners’ (and viewers’) attention and hold it tightly. And of course, the opposite is true as well.
Let me give you a scenario. You tune into your fifth virtual meeting of the day and see someone exhibiting non-verbal traits of boredom (sullen facial expression, averted gaze and monotonous tone of voice), it is likely you would very quickly follow suit and start to project these actions back to them. This ‘mirroring’ behaviour becomes a vicious cycle, where within five minutes, even your colleague’s usually hyperactive dog is snoring into the microphone.
Watching disengaged people on your screen all day is exhausting, so why risk inflicting this on others? If you’re conscious of the communication signals you’re giving out, you can directly affect the mood and energy of your audience. And if you lift their energy and engage them, they will stay attentive to what you have to say. Time will fly by in your presence, and chances are, they will be more likely to engage with you in future and show up with more energy themselves. The same goes for whether you’re speaking to an audience of 1 or 1,000.
So how exactly do you improve your non-verbal communication in order to keep people engaged?
Well, a good starting point is to conduct a self-assessment so that you’re aware of your baseline behaviours. To do this, you’ll need to either:
Record yourself presenting or speaking during your next virtual meeting (remember to get your fellow meeting participants’ permission first); or
Record yourself delivering a recent presentation on your phone or computer camera sans audience.
Then watch it back and answer the following:
What is my body language saying? Are my facial expressions, eye contact and gestures helping to animate my message and communicate credibility?
Vocally, how do I sound? Is my rate of speaking enhancing clarity? Does my tone of voice communicate interest and confidence?
Self-assessment might not be the most attractive idea to you - even the most confident, practiced individuals may baulk at the idea. But this is the best way to take stock of where you’re at right now, and how you need to shift or change your non-verbal communication.
And what should change will be different for everyone. For example, you may need to focus on slowing your rate of speech, enlivening your facial expressions or modulating the pitch of your voice.
Once you have assessed yourself and identified some development areas, simply decide on what your intention is for your upcoming meeting. Then focus on synchronising your words, voice and physicality to drive this message.
So, inject some energy back into your meetings. Let your non-verbal communication skills help re-humanise your interactions in a time when, whether we like it or not, virtual is everything.
Together with purposeful and succinct messages, we can breathe life into our virtual meetings and foster connection, no matter the physical distance.
Do you or your team need to elevate your communication in a virtual landscape? Check out Sarah’s offerings to help you take control of your virtual presence here.