The more you talk, the less they can

The balance of participation in a meeting or workshop is curious to observe. The more you talk, the less they can contribute.

Have you asked a question? Did you acknowledge the response? Or did you just keep talking?

The space between when you stop talking ... and they start talking ... is known as ‘exchange time’. Is there an actual space there or are the usual voices picking up after each other? Can anyone break in to the conversation to add their comment?

I’ve been randomly measuring and observing exchange time in most of the online meetings and sessions I’ve been in over recent weeks - as both a session participant and a session leader.

When the topic engages and rapid comments come, exchange time shortens. It’s harder to add to the conversation. When two people are in conversation, exchange time can’t even be counted sometimes because the space is so thin. It’s impossible to find the gap. So it’s easier to just observe, to wait them out.

Disengagement and distraction are appealing. What do you deliberately do, to get the input and participation of people? Waiting for them to jump in is not a strategy.

Too often there is simply no space.

Do you ‘work' the chat box

More training sessions and meetings are online than ever before. But many of these feature just a few dominant voices, taking up most of the air time.

Facilitation skills are needed more than ever.

How do you get people more involved, engaged, participating, learning and contributing? Don't undervalue ... the Chat Box! The chat box in your online webinar/meeting software is a brilliant source of engagement.

Sadly, many presenters, leaders and speakers don’t ‘work it’ and they get caught up in their content and slides, fall behind with the comments or run out of time and miss the gold that’s right there in front of them. Participants in meetings and workshops want to engage and contribute.

The chat box is one place where you can leverage ideas, input, suggestions, questions and comments. It is a skill of being able to work with your content plus an agenda, plus the participants contributing via the chat box. 

Adapt your messaging

It's a very good time to check your default. 

What are the default messages, responses and funnels you've got set up that usually just 'run'?

What do you have that is automated, that will do 'this' if 'that' happens? 

You'll need to change something, most certainly. 

We are seeing and hearing marketing, customer, advertising and communications messaging that is not adapting.

It's time to PULL or PAUSE your canned, pre-written and pre-scheduled content that was done in the motive of 'productivity'. 

It was created in another time. Those images and words were made for another era. 

The language, pace, imagery, message (and metaphors) could be tone deaf, way out of alignment and not a good match for these times.

Check on it ... and then adapt it to these times and tones. 

And soon, you'll probably need to change it again. 

Why engagement is harder to do these days

If you’ve watched a movie, tv series or binge-watched anything, you’d know how compelling and enticing this entertainment and communication medium is. Filmmakers are like sensemakers and storytellers on steroids or high performance supplements.

So every day in the workplace, we’re now dealing with a tougher audience.

Our meetings, workshops, planning and strategy sessions have a tough audience who are used to higher quality productions, scintillating storylines and rich and complex characters who do weird and intriguing stuff. It's engaging and entertaining!

No wonder people are bored in everyday boring meetings and workshops. They’re comparatively... boring. Nothing exciting happens; it’s the same meeting as last time; and it doesn’t engage or excite us the way these other drugs of engagement do.

We must lift our game.

To be engaging we must be more engaging.

We don’t have months to work on a script, lighting, story arc or edits. We need to think, design and engage people in ways they now like to be engaged.

The stuff we used to do isn’t doing what it used to do. Next episode starts in 5 4 3 2 1….

‘How did you get started?' could be the wrong question

When we’re starting a new venture, launching something or seeking advice, we may ask the default question, ‘How did you get started?’

It’s the wrong question. Well yes, ok, it’s a nice question and we hear someone’s story and learn interesting things about them. But... What if we asked a better question or series of questions? (Have we even thought about what those questions could be?)

What further, better and more helpful insights might be uncovered with more revealing questions? The starting or origin activity is nowhere near as insightful as the 1000s of decisions and actions that precede it or follow it. The origin activity could be as a result of luck, networks, opportunity, invitations or a happy collision. Great, nice to know. But what has happened since then?

What mindset, choices, decisions and experiments did this person experience, conduct, endure or achieve? This is where the insight is. In those 1000s of decisions and actions.

When you’re interviewing, podcasting, hosting a panel discussion, being the MC, introducing someone or having a conversation, go for something more than ‘How did you get started?’ There's so much more there.