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What kind of energy would he bring to a digital keynote?  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 
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ISSUE 63

Communicating in a digital world
This is what I give. I give an expression of care every day to each child, to help him realize that he is unique.”

- Fred Rogers in a 1968 U.S. Senate hearing on PBS funding
 
Even as we see the light at the end of the tunnel of our global public health crisis, we are reckoning with what might be a massive economic crisis. Your customers are facing upheaval in their lives and businesses. When you communicate with them now, they don’t need spectacle. They need connection. They need you to be like Mr. Rogers - to show them that you see and empathize with them, that you’ll help them recover, repair, and create the new world.

Here are some best practices for delivering a successful digital keynote - whether it’s from your laundry room or a studio.


  • Connection, not spectacle. The big music and big screens are gone. It’s just you. Your face on someone’s laptop or phone. When humans see other humans on a screen they unconsciously evaluate. Part of their mind is asking: ‘Is this speaker genuinely trying to help me? Does this person understand and care about my problems?’ If you do care about them, they’ll feel it and pay attention. If you don’t, they won’t. Think and behave like a member of the community, serving your audience, solving problems together.

  • Cadence and tone. What matters now is being real, reassuring, relevant, vulnerable, human. No, you shouldn’t speak as slowly as Mr. Rogers did - you’re speaking to adults. But warm enthusiasm is much better than bombast. Pauses to let key points sink in matter. So does a warm smile.

  • Where are your eyes? Let’s get tactical. Presuming you’re doing your talk from home, you’ll deliver it into the laptop camera that’s about 12 - 18” from your face. Your audience will follow your eyes and facial expressions carefully. Test your camera set up in advance and rehearse with it. Train your eyes into and through the camera toward your audience. It may help to put a picture of a friend right above your laptop camera so you feel you’re speaking to a person. Even if you do get to a studio, you’ll be speaking straight into a camera. Again, practice and test. Bring someone into the studio to stand right next to the camera.

  • Know your stage. If you’re presenting from home, you’re your own event producer. Experiment until you find a setting that will be comfortable and supportive enough that you can focus all of your energy on your audience instead. Here’s what you need to consider:
    • How much of your body will be visible on camera. Will the camera’s shot be wide enough to capture your gestures? If the shot will be very tight, make gestures closer to your face so your audience can see them
    • A clean, uncluttered background will help your audience focus more on you and your message.
    • Where is the best place for you to sit for a clean background, for light, for sound? Practice with your virtual production team.
    • What chair is most comfortable for you? What microphone is most comfortable and effective?

We are all guiding each other into this new world. When you effectively connect with your audiences via the small screen, you help each person take another step forward. Go forth and help us all rebuild the world!

Image: PBS.org


On poseyblog


We're still talking about effective communication in our "new normal":





"I’d need a beer and a couple of hours to tell you everything I learned today!"

If you’d like great results, schedule a conversation with me! It’s easy! Reach me at inquiries@poseycorp.com.
Your business must scale, and you must scale with it. Great communicators create the change they want to see in the world. poseycorp helps innovators build powerful messages and the skill to deliver them so they can break through the noise and be heard! Lisa Poulson, poseycorp’s principal, is expert at helping innovators scale by becoming great communicators.

Do you wish everyone around you had great communication skills? Share this link with them so they can learn too!





 
 
Resources
 
 
If you want to understand more about how people unconsciously evaluate and communicate with each other, this is a fantastic book with both theories and exercises.
 
 
 
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