The new reality of having to collaborate, share, and communicate in a virtual setting presents a new set of challenges. Whether your meetings are with or without video, you can improve your presence and communication impact by taking control of the three Vs:
• Verbal: This is the words spoken – the vocabulary and grammar.
• Vocal: This includes voice qualities such as intonation, volume, pace, accent interference.
• Visual: This includes body language, as well as setting and context.
In video conferencing, all 3 are available as clues for the listener. Without video, the Vocal becomes paramount. An excellent communicator is not only aware of the verbal, vocal and visual, but controls them. They are used strategically and with purpose to engage and persuade the audience.
How can I best use the 3 V’s to captivate my audience and make my message clear?
The Verbal (what I say)
For many non-native speakers, the verbal is their focus in communication. The concern is vocabulary, word choice, and grammar. However, the words don’t guarantee people will listen to or even understand you. The focus should be on delivery – the visual and vocal.
Organize the verbal
How we organize and deliver the verbal is also important. English speakers organize and deliver the verbal in a direct, concise, and explicit manner. Ask direct questions when you don’t understand. Follow a logical order. Don’t digress. Don’t give more information than necessary.
Good communicators take the verbal, the words, and delivers them with impactful and engaging body language and vocal qualities. They use the visual and vocal to support and enhance their verbal.
Build a vocabulary that is precise and descriptive
Develop a business English vocabulary and the norms for using them.
•Use a positive, strong, problem-solving vocabulary.
Instead of fight – conflicting view, mismatch, differ, point of contention, resistance
• Use exact vocabulary and strong verbs
Instead of did – created, produced, performed, completed, prepared, piloted, developed
Use verbal hooks to guide the listener
Use hooks to lead the listener through the steps of an idea or thought, make comparisons, judgments, or draw conclusions. You should say these hooks louder and longer. You can also put pauses around them. These let the listener know something important is coming up. Examples include:
To Add: furthermore, what’s more, moreover, in addition
To Compare: on the other hand, however, on the contrary, in contrast
To Show Exception: however, nevertheless, in spite of, despite, once in a while
To Emphasize: definitely, absolutely, certainly, as a matter of fact
To Show Sequence: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, a, b, c, afterward, previously, thereafter
To Give an Example: for example, for instance, in this case, as we’ve seen
To Conclude: to summarize, to conclude, in other words
To Show Effect: consequently, as a result, therefore
The Vocal (how I say it)
When video is not present vocal qualities become paramount. Two common problems Asian language speakers have with vocal control are:
1. Intonation: This is the rising and falling pitch of your voice. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean speakers are often monotone in English. Everything is pronounced equally with little or no inflection. For English listeners, this is not only boring, but confusing. There are no clues to guide the listener. Everything is the same.
2. Stress – Stress is extremely important in English. Stressed syllables and words are said louder, held longer, and have a higher pitch. When the speaker is monotone, these important clues are absent and the message is unclear.
Use the vocal to structure your message
Use vocal qualities like pauses and focus stress to create structure that lets the listener follow your message.
Pauses
Use pauses to break up speech into understandable chunks. Make clear pauses between phrases. Vary pause length to keep the audience’s interest – a shorter pause to catch your breath, longer pauses between phrases of a complex idea. This allows the listener to keep up with you, and have time to digest what you just said.
Focus Stress
Focus stress is extremely important when speaking without visual clues. Focus stress brings the listener’s attention to a specific word or phrase. Focus stress is used to clarify, emphasize or show contrast.
The words in bold are examples of focus stress. Say them louder, longer, and with a higher pitch.
• So you’re saying that the LAB will not be accessible at this time? (to clarify)
• The ADVANTAGES of this strategy are….whereas the DISADVANTAGES include….. (to show contrast)
• That MUST be locked at all time. (to emphasize)
The Visual (what I can see)
Frame yourself on the screen (so we don’t only see the top of your head) and check that the lighting doesn’t cast shadows over you. Do a video check for your appearance before joining the meeting. Do you look as professional as when you attend onsite meetings?
Pay attention to your body language which includes posture, eye contact, facial expressions, dress and grooming, hand and body movement, etc. What message does your body language send? Do you look engaged? Interested? Bored? Distracted? Your body language can either enhance or detract from your message and professionalism. Use hand gestures to support and clarify your message. Visual aids like slides also help support the speaker’s message and clarify spoken words that may not be understood.
For more on strategies for virtual meetings, check out
About the author: Lauren Supraner is the President of CAL Learning, an intercultural communication consulting and training company, and a member of SAPA-GP Career and Mentoring Group. Since founding CAL Learning in 2004, Lauren has helped thousands in the pharma, life sciences, healthcare, education and other industries develop communication that is clear, persuasive and culturally appropriate. Lauren is the author of Accent Reduction for Chinese Speakers. She holds an MA in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from Columbia University.