“Zoom with Confidence” with Edie Lush
Part One of Edie Lush Series
Edie Lush is a communications specialist. Born in California, she has worked as a political analyst for UBS, as a host for Bloomberg Television, as a podcaster and is a trainer for on screen speakers.
Edie begins her talk by recognising the interesting “new moment” we have entered at the end of the 2020 pandemic year as we look to a future of hybrid events. In this talk, Edie shares techniques she has found useful not only speaking on screen but also when in hybrid scenarios.
“What an audience wants is often quite different to what you think it might be.”
Edie references the research of Albert Meridian, a professor from the University of California, who studied the effectiveness of communication. What he found was that for the written word (a report or an email for example), about 90% of the impact comes from the content. Only 10% of the impact comes from what it looks like - the margins, the spelling, the font for example.
For the spoken word, a surprising 7.5% of the impact comes from the content. To put it simply, 60% of the spoken word is what you see - does she look comfortable? Does she look happy to be here? The other 30% is based on whether you can hear her or if she sounds passionate or nervous? This means the total impact of a talk is based on 90% what you see and how you hear.
Edie recognises that the relationship between the onscreen speaker and audience can feel artificial. Therefore, from her experience from being on television and techniques taught at acting school, Edie recommends that when speaking, you need to think about a time when you felt really comfortable. She gives the example of when you tell a story that you know really well to good friends. This will put you at a 70% energy level which is what you need to be at when presenting online.
“The most stressful audience is the one that doesn’t give back”
She acknowledges that an audience that have their screens turned off is an un-natural challenge. Therefore, Edie suggests techniques to keep your energy topped up such as smiling, using your hands, asking audience questions and to consider what you wear.
Edie lead by example and gave her talk standing which makes the presentation feel more natural. She also recommends good lighting shining both on your face and the background. A specific tip used by industry experts is to position the camera just above your eye line so casting shadows are below the chin. This is also the most easy angle for the audience to watch because it is what we are used to. This is important because it contributes to how the audience experiences you on the screen - the easier you make it, the easier it is for the audience to receive your message. It does not need to be a fancy set up but make do with what you have and what your budget is.
“My favourite thing about a pause is that it can turn… what feels like a download of information into something that feels more like a conversation.”
In person, you can see an audience nodding or smiling along. “When you put spaces between the words, you allow the audience to catch up”, Edie adds, “and you allow yourself to catch up with what you are saying.” Edie notes that a pause does not work without some other energy around so it is important to practise and get a balance.
5 Top Tips on How to Zoom with Confidence
Posture
If sitting, position yourself half way up the chair, shoulders back and tuck your arms next to your body. This is so your hands can interact and add emphasis to what you are saying.
Maintain eye contact by looking at the green light where the laptop camera is, not the audience on the screen itself.
Volume
“You can not have physical energy without some vocal energy and you can not have vocal energy without volume.”
Proper amplification is recommended if you are recording a lot.
You can not reach the deeper tones of your voice without raising the volume.
Emphasis
Use emphasis like you would when you have underlined a word - it slows you down and gives you thinking time. “For the audience, it is the difference between me wanting them to get the point, and me rushing past it so they don’t get it.”
Pause
“Pause three times more often then you think you need to for three times as long”
Edie compares a pause in spoken word to punctuation and spaces in written words - without, it is unintelligible.
Practise replacing filling words like “um” and “like” with a pause.
Throwing the voice
Vary your vocal tone when using bridge words like “and”, “so” and “because” to easily bring energy into your presentation.