With Zoom now likely to be a permanent part of our lives, Carol Kinsey Goman* suggests ways to project positive body language in the virtual world.
During the pandemic my speaking and coaching assignments switched from helping leaders project an in-person presence to helping them master their presence on Zoom.
Zoom also requires good body language, but in significantly different ways.
Virtual is here to stay, that much we know, yet humans are social creatures, and in-person meetings bring a level of connection and trust you cannot get from virtual meetings alone.
Welcome to the hybrid future, in which work life will morph into a mix of live and virtual events.
You will need to know which non-verbal cues have the most impact in person and which become paramount when viewed on screen.
There are many situations in which body language plays a significant role in leadership presence.
Five such situations are making a positive first impression, connecting quickly with another person, gesturing to help the audience understand your message, adding impact to a formal presentation, and displaying confidence.
Here’s how effective body language changes, depending on the environment.
Making a positive first impression
It takes seven seconds for people to make in-person judgments about your attitude, level of confidence, professional status and personal warmth.
In a face-to-face situation you have several opportunities to make sure that impression is positive.
You can control the physical energy with which you enter the room, the way you carry your body, your initial gestures and the amount of eye contact you make.
On a computer screen, it’s only your visual image that sets an initial impression — and that impression is made very, very quickly.
A study at the University of Glasgow found it takes the brain just 200 milliseconds to gather most of the information it needs from a facial expression to determine a person’s emotional state.
That’s why you can’t wait until you’re in the meeting to ‘warm up’.
Quickly connecting with someone
Touch is the most primitive and powerful non-verbal cue.
In the workplace, physical touch and warmth are established through the handshaking tradition.
This tactile contact makes a lasting and positive impression.
With no handshake on a virtual platform, start with a smile.
A genuine smile not only stimulates your own sense of wellbeing, it also tells those around you that you are approachable, cooperative, and trustworthy.
In addition, smiling directly influences how other people respond to you.
When you smile at someone, they almost always smile in return.
The smile you get back actually changes that person’s emotional state in a positive way.
Helping the audience understand your message
In person, you can use an effective variety of gestures.
We may seldom think of our gestures consciously, but in practice we use them with great efficiency and sophistication to clarify a wide range of communication.
Studies have found that people who communicate through active gesturing tend to be evaluated as warm, agreeable, and energetic.
Those who remain still (or whose gestures seem mechanical or ‘wooden’) are seen as logical, cold, and analytic.
Virtually, you are most effective when you keep your gestures close to your body and within the frame of the camera.
Sweeping gestures that continually go out of sight are counter-productive.
Smaller, slower gestures will enhance your credibility and help the audience more easily understand your message.
You may need to back away from the camera so you are not seen as just a talking head.
Adding impact to a formal presentation
In an in-person presentation, move then stand still.
Human beings are drawn to movement. If you move when you speak, you’ll get people’s attention.
It can be especially effective to move toward the audience before making a key point, and away when you want to signal a break or a change of subject.
You can also use space to reinforce your ideas, but don’t move while making a crucial comment.
You have the most impact when you combine movement with physical pauses in which you stand absolutely still to highlight your most important points.
To add impact to your virtual presentations, speak then pause.
Many of the non-verbal cues we use to assess a speaker are unavailable in a virtual environment — the main reason for ‘Zoom fatigue’.
Your audience’s brains have to work harder to understand the full meaning of your remarks.
You’ll connect with people even more positively if you wait a few seconds between phrases to let them absorb and analyse what you’ve just said.
Displaying confidence
To look and feel confident when leading a face-to-face team meeting, widen your stance.
Your body helps you become a more confident speaker when it is grounded with feet planted firmly on the floor, a hips-width apart, with your weight evenly distributed.
A broad stance like this builds your confidence by calming your nervous system, allowing you to breathe with ease, and amplifying your voice.
To look more confident on Zoom, sit with good posture, facing the screen with shoulders squared, head straight, and feet flat on the ground.
Sitting in this way sends a powerful message.
In fact, someone viewing you for the first time will make judgments about your leadership presence based more on your posture than on your actual role or title.
It is always smart to update your non-verbal awareness — and now is the perfect time to prepare for body language success in a hybrid future.
*Carol Kinsey Goman is an international keynote speaker and leadership presence coach. Her work involves Government Agencies and universities. She can be reached by email at [email protected].
This article first appeared at CarolKinseyGoman.com.
