Don't be lazy on Zoom

A bit of a rant today, because it's been an interesting week we're only on Wednesday but I've joined two or three online network meetings because I felt the need to get out there a bit more and yes the word zoom fatigue has come up more times than I've had hot dinners in the last week but i want to address that idea of zoom fatigue because I think what's happening is we are jumping on all sorts of calls at the beginning of all this you know we all decided to go online and yes suddenly we found on ourselves calls from one morning till night now if you're like me and you coach clients and you've had to coach online yes it can be fatiguing it can be exhausting it it's all of that because you're having to really be present and be aware of who you're talking to and for me I make sure that I spread those calls out through a week so I'm not doing a nine to five now I know that's not the same for everybody and for some people it has to be done so I wanted to talk to you today about stop being lazy on zoom stop thinking that you can replicate exactly onto zoom and then be lazy while you're on zoom now I wouldn't for one minute accuse anybody listening to this of doing this but I have seen it happen and i think what is beginning to happen is that the um the baseline of what's happening online has dropped considerably because everybody's jumped on so the first point i want to make is it is not always possible to replicate exactly what you do in a physical setting online okay I'm putting it out there you have to think it through you have to ask yourself how much of what you do in a physical setting can you take online that will engage people now the clever ones who are doing um keep fit and wellness and yoga and all those things that have people physically working with them works wonders because you're engaged in what is going on you're following along you're doing what you need to do people who did demonstrations online sort of the cooking demonstrations and things like that perfect again people were following along the problem comes when networking or conferencing or any of those type of events where people are just listening try to replicate everything they did and put it online because I'm here to tell you folks some of you have not thought this through and it has become dull I'm putting it out there I am really sorry but you need to look at what you're doing how is what you're doing engaging with your audience now for instance when you're networking a lot of the networking I do and I don't do a lot really is because I get out of the house I talk to people we laugh we share a joke we catch up on gossip we create an atmosphere in a room and it's as much social as it is business now we can't always replicate that online one because the discipline needed to ensure a smooth meeting you can't have people talking over each other you can't have those groups chuckling in the corner and then joining it it's a it's a difficult thing to manage

However, you have to find a way because, if I'm going to sit in front of a computer for a two-hour online meeting, or even an hour online session, I need to be engaged. I need to get value from it; I need to learn something from it. I need to be able to take away something from it. If I can't take away the social element of it, then there has to be something to replace it, and the outstanding networking events I've been to online have been where I had learned something new, or there's been some workshop, or I've come away feeling like yes I can do that.

you cannot expect people in their own homes in their own comfort to be polite and listen all the time and now I have a word for you people in the audience listening to zooms or attending zoom meetings how many of you will go into a meeting sit down with a plate of egg and bacon and start eating how many of you will turn up in your pyjamas with your dressing gown on how many of you would continue doing your Facebook and your emails and all your social media with one ear on what's going on in a meeting it wouldn't happen because it's rude but we are becoming lazier and lazier on zoom because we are in our homes in comfort and just sort of pop in and have a listen and our present and that doesn't help the people who need to engage with you because they're getting nothing back now it is whoever's speaking job to engage with you and understand you now speakers if you notice there's a lot of chat going on about something totally irrelevant to what you're talking about you've lost your audience if you're going to read from a script or a book learn how to look up from time to time or send us the text or the writing and we'll read it in our own time

Be present, give to people, shut everything down when you're on a zoom meeting and be there. Join in with questions and chat learn and take something from it follow up with the people you have found interesting that you want to talk to

It's not going to get any better, and I was talking this week to a couple of people, and they were talking about this zoom fatigue, and I said, well, where else do you chat online, and they said, we don't. "We're just so fed up with zoom we're not going anywhere."  

Excuse me, that's like staying at a physical meeting oh you've done your 60 second brilliant. you've networked but I'm so tired of it I'm not going to go into a workshop for a group of people who may buy off me you have to be speaking online because the whole world is speaking online at the moment and there is so much noise you have to make yourself heard you need to be simple you need to be clear you need to cut through the noise but most of all you have got to be better than the others you have got to learn how to use your voice how to be effective what other platforms can you use to talk to people it's not just about zoom and workshops live streaming pre-recorded videos podcasts how many people have said to me well you you know i can never find guest you don't have to have a guest for a podcast you could do a weekly a monthly podcast full of tips and things and maybe have the odd guest on there it's about understanding the various platforms that are available to you looking at the ones that will work for you putting a strategy in place and doing it you can't sit back and go well I've got zoom fatigue I can't be bothered anymore i don't want to go anymore

If you're running a business, you have to use the online tools now to make your voice heard to make your voice effective and I'm sorry that's been a bit of a rant, but honestly, the last couple of weeks, some of the things I've seen online it's like I could walk away, I could leave the room, and nobody would know I had gone that's bad I have done meetings, and I've watched people, and I've watched them sit there in their dressing gown, so I've watched them look disinterested I have watched, and I can tell when people have got one eye on their Facebook, and they're responding, or they're responding to emails, or they're doing things or the ones that stand up in the middle and go oh I'm just going to go and take this call. Unless someone's offering you a kidney you should never do that to a person who's running any workshop, that is rude. If you know you're going to have to do that, let it be known at the beginning of a meeting that you may have to leave because you're expecting an important phone call

I know it's easy to be laid back and relaxed at home, and it's lovely. But it's not doing you any favours to be lazy on zoom or any other streaming platform you use or webinars Think about how you want to speak to people, think about what you want to say, use the right platform and make a plan.

So think about what I've said, and I would love to hear your comments; even if you go wrong, you've just had a rant, and that's a total waste of time and rubbish. I would love to hear your thoughts on this and how you are experiencing some of these online meetings at the moment. Have a great week, and um, anybody who would love to learn some etiquette on zoom, let me know because there really should be an etiquette package for how we behave online to support each other but equally to be heard all right then people be goodbye.