Body language online - 6 Minute English

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!