Ellen RievmanPowerful Virtual Communication
Updated: Jun 4
The tool that people have often seen as a stopgap has become an important element for their future.
As our clients rise to the challenges of working virtually, they’ve been asking us for help in continuing and building relationships with their clients using virtual technology.
One of our clients, a Fortune 500 international cloud data services and management company, recently asked us to conduct a workshop for their Executive Briefing Center (EBC) team. Before COVID19, the EBC facilitated in-person brand experiences that involved customers, partners and prospects flying in from around the world, using the company’s technology to facilitate discussions and brainstorming sessions. Suddenly, with a global lockdown, this was no longer possible.
The team could no longer stand in front of their customers, watching their faces and gauging reactions, while gesturing toward the PowerPoint slide projected behind them. Now, they had to figure out how to do all of that through a single computer monitor or maybe even a smartphone. They reached out to TAI with this question: “How do we create strong connection and an authentic experience of our brand?”
We designed an experiential solution for the team members from the US, Europe, India and the UK – a total of 5 time zones and cultures.
The solution focused on:
Speaking – getting comfortable with speaking to a screen, using real-time practice of skills
Framing the shot with awareness
Addressing lighting and understanding sound settings
Working with the camera
The Body – how to create presence when people can only see a limited view of you
Remembering to breathe
Connecting to your posture
Centering yourself physically
Connecting – how to engage with and support your audience as they explore new ideas
Speaking to a specific person on the screen and not scanning
Allowing humanity to come through the screen
Leading a discussion with several people, using their existing software tools
The work revealed that virtual communication can be just as intimate as, and sometimes more intimate than, meeting in person. Rather than the awkward second choice as it has often been perceived, a virtual platform, when used with awareness, can deepen relationships, strengthen connection, improve understanding and considerably enhance efficiency.