Hello. This is 6 Minute English from
BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
And I'm Sam. When Neil and I record
6 Minute English face-to-face in
the BBC Learning English studio,
which, I am happy to say, we are
doing right now, we look at each
other as we speak. We smile and
use hand gestures and facial
expressions in a type of
communication called
body language.
But during the Covid pandemic,
everyday meetings with work
colleagues, teachers and
friends, and 6 Minute English
recording - all moved online.
Video meetings using software
like Zoom and Skype became
the normal way to communicate
with family and friends.
And whatever happens with
Covid in the future, it
seems they're here to stay.
In this programme, we'll
be asking: how has body
language changed in the
world of online video meetings?
We'll meet the person who wrote
the rulebook for clear
communication in the digital
age - Erica Dhawan, author of
a new book, 'Digital Body Language'.
But before that, I have a
question for you, Sam, and
it's about Erica Dhawan. She
may be a communications expert now,
but growing up in Pennsylvania
she was a shy and quiet
schoolgirl. So how did Erica
beat her shyness and become
the confident communicator
she is today? Did she:
a) attend public speaking classes?,
b) copy the body language of
the cool kids at school? or,
c) raised her hand to answer
the teacher s questions, even
if she didn't know the answer?
I'll guess that c - she raised
her hand to answer the
teacher's questions.
OK, Sam. We'll reveal the
correct answer later
in the programme.
In face-to-face meetings, we
immediately see someone's reaction
to what we've said through
eye contact, where two
people look into each
other's eyes as they talk.
Unfortunately, using a web
camera to make eye contact
is almost impossible in
online meetings and this
often creates a kind
of 'distancing' effect.
Erica Dhawan makes several
suggestions to help with this.
See if you can hear the final
suggestion she makes to Michael
Rosen as part of BBC
Radio 4's Word of Mouth.
And last but not least,
slow down. Remember when it
was completely normal to
have a one-minute pause in
a room with one another
because we knew when we're
thinking and brainstorming.
If we don't hear someone
speak on video, we ask them
if they're on mute. Practise
what I call the five-second
rule - wait five seconds
before speaking to make sure
that individuals have time
to process the ideas,
especially if there may
be technology or
accessibility issues.
Did you hear Erica's last
piece of advice, Neil?
Yes, she recommends slowing
down, something we do naturally
face-to-face when we're
thinking or brainstorming - that's
discussing suggestions with
a group of people to come up with
new ideas or to solve problems.
Slowing down gives us time to
process new information - to
understand it by thinking
carefully and reflecting on it.
Erica compares online body
language to learning a new
language - it takes practice,
especially when it comes to
smiling and laughing, something
Michael Rosen finds hard to
do in video meetings.
Listen to him discussing this
problem with Erica Dhawan for
BBC Radio 4's, Word of Mouth.
Do you think it's killing off
people laughing and smiling
in the way we do when we're
altogether in the
live situation?
I would say that it is much
less likely that we laugh
and smile on camera for a
few reasons. Number one,
laughing is often done in
unison where we can quickly
pick up the energy of someone
smiling or laughing and
feed off of that and laugh
ourselves. When it comes
to screen delays, the fact
that it's not natural to
see our own camera - being
distracted by that - we
are much less likely to
laugh and smile. One of
the ways we can overcome
this is by creating
intentional moments in
our meetings for the
water cooler effect.
Erica points out that
laughing often happens in
unison - together and
at the same time.
Yes, if someone starts
laughing it makes me
laugh too.
She also thinks it's important
to make time for employees
to chat informally about
things unrelated to
work - their weekend
plans or last night's TV show.
And she uses the expression,
the water cooler effect which
comes from the United States
where office workers
sometimes meet at the
water fountain to chat.
So, the water cooler effect
refers to informal conversations
that people have in their office
or workplace, maybe in the lift,
the office kitchen or, if
there is one, by an
actual water cooler.
Erica Dhawan seems very
comfortable communicating online,
but she's had lots of time to
practice since her schooldays.
Ah yes, Neil, in your quiz
question you asked how Erica
conquered her shyness at school.
I guessed that she raised her
hand to answer the
teacher's questions.
It was a good guess, Sam,
but the correct answer is
b - she copied the body
language of her cool teenage
classmates, so probably
lots of rolled eyes
and slouching!
OK, let's recap the vocabulary
from this programme about
online body language - non-verbal
ways of communicating
using the body.
Eye contact is when two
people look at each other's
eyes at the same time.
Brainstorming involves a
group discussion to generate
new ideas or solutions.
When we process information,
we think about it carefully
in order to understand it.
'In unison' means happening
together and at the same time.
And finally, the water cooler
effect is an American expression
to describe informal conversations
between people at work.
Neil is looking at his watch,
which is body language that
tells me our six minutes are up!
Goodbye for now!
Goodbye!