ByIANSlife Features

June 22, 2021 (IANSlife) A novel strain of coronavirus — SARS-CoV-2 — was first detected in December 2019 in Wuhan, a city in China’s Hubei province with a population of 11 million, after an outbreak of pneumonia without an obvious cause. The virus has now spread to over 200 countries and territories across the globe, and was characterised as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020. Since then global lockdown happened, and people had no other option but to resort to remote working. The certain desk or corner of the house has turned into an office, catching up with colleagues and official meetings have moved to virtual platforms. Work from home has been a new experience that many of us are gradually adapting ourselves to. Like everything else, the pandemic has left its imprint on work culture, making professionals re-evaluate their functions and working processes. The rise in virtual meetings since the COVID-19 pandemic began, is putting pressure on enterprise leaders to ensure employees have the right body language to maintain consistent, high-quality connections with colleagues, customers and partners while working remotely.

Online meetings are the new norm, which is why now's the perfect time to hone your virtual communication skills. Did you know only seven percent of a message is conveyed by words? The remaining 93 percent consists of tone of voice (38 percent) and body language (55 percent).Body language in virtual meetings is important to pay attention to because facial expressions, hand gestures and posture can help you communicate and collaborate effectively with colleagues, demonstrate attentiveness and reinforce trust.In our day-to-day lives, our body language and other nonverbal cues emit a host of information to others. These signals provide key insights about our mood, thoughts, and emotions. In the age of the virtual conference room, nonverbal cues often speak louder than our words.

Needless to say, these virtual meetings often leave much to be desired and the limited parameters of the platform can set the stage for miscommunication and indeterminacy. While a virtual meeting of talking heads may lack the richness of communication and body language inherent in face-to-face interactions, Payal Sagar, Author and Life-Purpose Coach shares many ways individuals can level up their nonverbal communication to maximize this limited space.

Make a lasting digital impression with Smile Smiling is shown to be a psychological signal of altruism (among other positive correlations). When you smile at someone, it makes her more likely to trust you, and it makes you seem more approachable. Flashing a smile in those first nine seconds of meeting someone virtually may be all it takes to forge a stronger first impression and connection.

• Set the stage: In a virtual meeting, the webcam is a person's window to the world. The distance between the speaker and the camera will either limit or maximize the amount of space a person has to communicate and emit nonverbal information. If the camera is positioned very close to a participant, they appear as a mere talking head in the Zoom room. In this instance, the only clue other participants have into the speaker's feelings are facial cues, and of course, their words. Positioning the camera in a way that allows others to view your torso and arms will help make better use of this space.
• Posture: Posture is important! These are some things you shouldn’t do when attending a virtual meeting:

- Don’t lean on the desk. This makes it look as though you are bored and uninterested in the conversation.

- Don’t lean back in your chair as this can seem like you are also unbothered by the conversation and are not very professional.

- Don’t cross your arms as this can mean you are not paying attention to the conversation.

It’s not a good look if you’re hunched over the computer, you’re looking down or you’re sprawled out on the couch; “You could be saying the right things, but your body is conveying 1,000 negative cues. That negativity is what people are going to remember.” To help your posture, keep your feet flat on the ground and thighs level to the floor so you have a 90-degree angle at the knees. Your head, neck, back and legs should be aligned when standing. When seated, sit up straight so your ears, shoulders and hips are aligned.Good posture makes you appear more energetic, self-confident and reduces stress on your body.

• Avoid touching the face (and hair ... too much): Touching your face throughout the meeting suggests that you are nervous. This includes playing with your hair, itching your noses or chewing your lower lip. You want to avoid these when attending a virtual meeting as you don’t want to come across as insecure or nervous!What you want to do it raise your eyebrows to show interest, nod your head when you agree with what the person says showing that you are actively listening and keep your hands on your lap or use them to write down notes if needed.
• Facial Expression: Facial expressions are one of the more important aspects of human communication. The face is responsible for communicating not only thoughts or ideas, but also emotions.When attending virtual meetings, avoid frowning, staring or any facial expressions that may have an impact on the conversation and the person you are speaking to. Try to maintain an amiable expression. You can do that by keeping a moderate smile and slightly raising your eyebrows. If that feels too forced, just try to keep your face looking neutral.
• Dress for success: Virtual appearance does make a lot of difference in how people see you.. Dress in a way that focuses on one eye catching feature in your overall appearance. Too many eye catching features in the work look won’t portray a powerful body language. Yes, over the period of time, comfort comes first. But refrain from having a shabby appearance. Always give attention to how you dress up for virtual meetings.
• Hand gestures: Use your hands when you are speaking to others throughout the meetings. This makes it seem like you are engaging and enthusiastic about the conversation you are having. Try to avoid remaining still throughout the entire virtual meeting, instead use your hands when you are counting something or indicating how big or small something is. Simple gestures can be used throughout to make the conversation more natural as though you were speaking face to face.
• Strong Eye contact: You want to maintain the right amount of eye contact when you attend a virtual meeting. You want to look at those you are speaking to as well as making eye contact directly into the camera lens as this allows the others to see you directly. Eye contact is very important when you are having a face to face meeting so remember that you need to maintain this even though you are not with the people directly.
• Talk mindfully: It is very important to talk in a lower vocal tone. It must never sound like you are screaming or shouting on your background while you are virtually online. Also, there are many people who normally talk in a manner that sounds like they’re fighting. If you are one of them, then work on it. This will help you establish yourself as being empathetic and always ready to listen and open to ideas. One of the most important ways to accomplish this is to turn off all electronic devices (such as smartphones) while you’re having the conversation virtually and give full attention to the conversation at hand. Respond to the others in a mindful intentional way, rather than reactive way. At times during intense, controversial or difficult conversations the defensive and protective parts of participants’ brains can be unconsciously and automatically be quickly activated resulting in a reactive response which can negatively impact the conversation. Mindfulness can aid the leader through the process of noticing and labeling the emotion that is arising, pausing and creating space for a calm and intentional response

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