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It is what other people see when talking on camera via the internet.
Now that we are in an age where online conversations, meetings, conferencing, webinars, presentations and training videos are the norm, it’s important to consider how your body language can help or hinder your virtual meeting.
We think at approximately 800 words per minute and we speak at roughly 100 wpm. When this increases to say 120 wpm the voice changes, it becomes flatter and causes the listener to think there is a problem.
What can affect the quality of good virtual communication?
Body movement is a reflection of what someone is thinking and becomes the visual messages we send out.
If you think what a speaker is saying is at odds with what you see, it is because their body language is giving you a hint that something is amiss.
Repetitive gestures are unhelpful and off-putting to whoever is watching. Regular hand movements or face touching gestures will be distracting and may have a negative effect on the conversation. Learning the correct body language to use in front of a camera can have seriously improve your success rate.
Correct camera placement is vital. Many people rely on a desk camera that is built into their PC. The angle makes it difficult to have a comfortable conversation.
The cost of a separate camera, which can be placed level with your head, is minimal and yet the benefit of the extra height it will offer is well worth it.
What are the biggest problem areas?
Some of the most important areas to focus on, where the worst mistakes occur, are facial expressions, head, arm and hand movements (if upper body shots), add to this walking and swaying movements if full body presentations.
Nervous gestures stand out more. Without audience interaction it is very easy for body language to become rigid, lacking animation or enthusiasm.
Facial expressions will become more serious and there is a tendency to over-use the same hand gesture until it becomes the only focus for the viewer. Most online video communications are just head and shoulder shots, which make it even more important to focus on feeling confident which in turn will help you look enthusiastic with eye contact and thoughtful expressions.
You’re not an automaton, so get some gentle animation in there and be enthusiastic and inspiring.
Tip:
If involved in an online conversation, rather than a presentation, don’t look someone in the eye. Instead look at the whole face as it gives a better impression.
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How do others do it?
Watch other webinars, presentations and videos. Find those presentations that have held your interest and that you watched through to the end, those that taught you something.
How did the presenter speak? Was their tone friendly, authoritative, excited? What gestures and facial expressions did they use?
How did they move, irrespective of whether standing or sitting at a desk? How did they break up the sections of their discussion and how did they keep your interest?
How did they vary their eye contact so that you felt they were talking just to you?
Learn from the bad stuff
Look out for presentations and even TV documentaries where you lost interest. Was it because the voice was boring, was their body rigid? You can learn from the bad just as much as from the good. So go back and take another look at your own recordings and see where you can make improvements.
Out there forever!
We should be taking extra care to manage VBL because once that video or webinar is out there that’s it. There’s no taking it back and having another go.
The internet can be unforgiving when it comes to trying to take something down once it’s been set free and circulated and re-posted. It’s best to do everything possible to get it right first time.
To what extent do people make allowances?
Everything today is fast moving and if interest isn’t captured within the first couple of minutes, it’s all too easy to discard it and move onto the next fast fix.
So yes, people will make allowances, but for only a limited amount of time, unless what they are seeing or hearing is full of awesome information or they are following someone who has already proven their worth.
What next?
Companies should be investing in some form of VBL training. It is an important tool for all companies to make use of if their contact is online either within their organisation or externally with their customers via visual conference calls.
At the end of the day it’s all about building rapport and getting the right message across.
Contact: info@bodylanguageatwork.co.uk
Contact: info@discprofiling.co.uk
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