1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:15,320 Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. 3 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 1: Today's tip is to use the chat feature to improve 4 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:24,159 Speaker 1: your video calls. When chat is used for good, it 5 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: can be a great way to deepen connections and keep 6 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 1: people thinking about the topic at hand, As we have 7 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 1: learned during the massive rise in remote work over the 8 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:39,160 Speaker 1: past two and a half years. Most video conference applications 9 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 1: have a chat feature that allows you to type a 10 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: message to one or all of the participants. Sometimes people 11 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:50,840 Speaker 1: use chat for snarky side conversations with one work friend. 12 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: I feel like this is an incredibly risky strategy. One 13 00:00:55,920 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 1: false move and the comment goes to everyone yikes. Instead, 14 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: use chat as a tool for making sure everybody is 15 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:07,320 Speaker 1: with you on a video call, reinforce what's set out 16 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:10,319 Speaker 1: loud with typed messages, and invite others to use chat 17 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:14,639 Speaker 1: to share their insights and questions as well. One simple 18 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:18,039 Speaker 1: technique that can be incredibly helpful is to type any 19 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,320 Speaker 1: proper names or acronyms that you say into the chat. 20 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: People are often embarrassed to ask others to repeat or 21 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: spell a name, or to explain an acronym for fear 22 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 1: of seeming out of the loop, but no one benefits 23 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 1: when people don't know who or what you're referring to. 24 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:39,040 Speaker 1: By typing names and acronyms plus what they stand for, 25 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:44,400 Speaker 1: into the chat, you help keep everyone following along. I 26 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: also recommend pasting in the chat the question that's being 27 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 1: discussed or the agenda item that you're on. This keeps 28 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: everyone focused on the topic and avoids the awkward moment 29 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: when ten minutes into a discussion, someone asks the facilitator 30 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: to repeat the quest, gener worse, makes a comment that 31 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 1: reveals they are clearly not thinking about the same thing. 32 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: If you send people to breakout groups to discuss a 33 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: particular topic, also paste those discussion prompts into the chat. 34 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: If you use the chat in meetings that you lead, 35 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 1: you may find that participants start to use the chat 36 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:22,519 Speaker 1: more as well. This can be great. The chat box 37 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:25,240 Speaker 1: is an excellent way for people to pose questions and 38 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:30,079 Speaker 1: share ideas without interrupting the flow of a presentation. Chat 39 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: is especially valuable for larger groups and for SHIRE team 40 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 1: members when it's hard to contribute orally. The chat can 41 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:43,639 Speaker 1: offer a less intimidating forum. Of course, people can't really multitask, 42 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: and so you don't want the chat to be where 43 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 1: all the action is happening. It needs to be integrated 44 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: into the meeting to really work well, So, especially in 45 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:56,880 Speaker 1: larger meetings that you are leading, you could ask a 46 00:02:56,919 --> 00:03:01,079 Speaker 1: trusted colleague to monitor the chat. The person can feel 47 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 1: empowered to interrupt you with appropriate questions or points that 48 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 1: have been made in the chat and need to be addressed. 49 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,000 Speaker 1: That way, you don't have to follow the chat and 50 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:15,160 Speaker 1: lose your focus, but people's ideas get hurt as well. 51 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:18,640 Speaker 1: I'm also a fan of meetings that use the chat 52 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 1: in the awkward moments as people are logging on, when 53 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: the conversation out loud is mostly saying hi and where 54 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:26,919 Speaker 1: are you logging in from? When a new person logs 55 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:29,799 Speaker 1: in every few seconds, the chat can be a forum 56 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:34,520 Speaker 1: for relationship building. If you post a light, engaging question 57 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 1: in the chat and reposted every few minutes as new 58 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 1: people arrive, you can spark interactions over a chat that 59 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: connect people before the meeting begins. Questions like favorite summer 60 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 1: memory for a meeting right after Labor Day or favorite 61 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 1: Thanksgiving food right before the holiday, or who are your 62 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: oscars picks? The night of the awards show can create 63 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 1: low pressure opportunities for participants to get to know each other. 64 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: Two and a half years into hybrid work, we are 65 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:05,119 Speaker 1: still figuring out how to do it well. I think 66 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 1: the chat function is an under used feature of a 67 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: lot of meetings, so why not try to use it 68 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: for good. If you have additional ways that you like 69 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: to use chat, I'd love to hear them. You can 70 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: reach me at Laura at Laura Vanderkamp dot com. In 71 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:27,800 Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's 72 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey everybody, I'd 73 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:39,840 Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips, 74 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, 75 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the 76 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also 77 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart 78 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: media dot com that Before Breakfast espe out with all 79 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying 80 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:12,039 Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. 81 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:15,560 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i 82 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: heart Radio apps, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 83 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: your favorite shows. Yea