This is Your Brain on Zoom - How to Recreate Real Life Learning Online

Life is no longer the same. Our world is confined within the four walls of our homes, and yet life must go on. Hundreds of millions are going online to Zoom to learn, continue working and socialize, including the Saturday Night Live cast. Yet, it is also taking a toll. Many people have reported it is hard to focus, and are quickly trying to learn the technology of online meetings. For those who are teachers, experts or facilitators, it is a new frontier that requires instant adaptation.

Have you noticed feeling exceptionally tired these days? “Zoom fatigue” is real. There is a reason for this. Your brain on Zoom is entirely different than your brain in real life. In our normal day, we have lots of physical state changes that keep us alert. We have to get up and fully dress, drive somewhere, park, socialize, and then settle down for a class or presentation. This extra stimulation actually keeps us interested and engaged when it comes time to sit down and learn.

Now we simply saunter to a chair and stare at our screen for hours and hours and days and days on end. Without the changes of scenery or being able to absorb the energy of others around us, it becomes much harder to stay focused. Oh, and of course we are fighting a global pandemic, so elevated stress levels are adding to this Zoom-gloom-haze.

While there have been plenty of tutorials dedicated to the mechanics of how to have online meetings, rarely has there been any significant teaching or coaching around how to make them effective. Online meetings don’t have to be boring. Maybe it is not your fault that you are worn out. Maybe the problem is in how these online events are being designed and orchestrated.

In the past five years I have led every kind of gathering you can imagine on Zoom from round table discussions, board meetings, summits, women’s groups, cocktail parties, book clubs and events ranging from serious, spiritual or social. I have discovered key tricks and tools to engage an audience, so they forget they are staring at a screen and feels more like real life. Over the course of 25 years in teaching and facilitation both online and live, as well as consulting on virtual platforms, I am convinced the subconscious tools we used to engage a live audience can be modified to engage a virtual audience.

Since we can’t be “IRL” anymore, (In Real Life) here are a few tweaks to create “IOL”- Integrated Online Learning instead. Integrated online learning features tools and skills to enhance any professional or personal situation that has moved to the virtual space. As this crisis abates, digital and virtual learning methodologies will continue to evolve into mainstream as larger segments of society turn towards the evolution of online productivity. This is going to become the new norm, and these are teachable skills.

IOL represents the combination of facilitation skills and the nuanced art of community building.

IOL is both a methodology and protocols for improved online communications. The cornerstone is prioritizing “relationship-based engagement” as the key factor in online events, meetings and gatherings of all kinds, as well as training experts, teachers and facilitators to level up their game. When moving to digital platforms, successful groups are forced to enhance the visual domain to make up for the lack of live 1:1 engagement. It requires a deeper awareness of the impact that physical connections have on our ability to learn, integrate and apply our insights, as well as regulate ourselves emotionally.

IOL Methodology — How do we learn? How do we engage? Studies show we learn through all five senses. Most people are primarily visual or auditory learners. Some prefer to read books on paper or a screen, and some prefer listening to audio books. The concept of “Accelerated Learning” demonstrates that we learn the fastest and retain the most by combining all of our senses including physical interaction. Think of your science field trip collecting specimens outside in the woods, versus reading about plants or bugs in a giant textbook. That is accelerated learning.

In the digital realm with all of its attendant distractions in our siloed world, accelerated learning is not just preferred, but necessary to keep your audience engaged. But how do we bring accelerated learning principles online? Martin Lindstrom presented a compelling case for five sense immersion in his book “Brand sense”, based on global research by Millward Brown. Some of the most successful companies on earth recognize and incorporate all five senses in their user experience. Not only is five sense immersion effective in delivering marketing messages, it is vital to increase the effectiveness of online learning whether it is academic, professional or social.

In addition to what we see, hear or do, we absorb an extraordinary amount of information nonverbally all the time. A primary function of nonverbal communication is to convey meaning by reinforcing, substituting for, or contradicting verbal communication. Nonverbal communication is also used to influence others and regulate conversational flow. Some studies have claimed that 90 percent of our meaning is derived from nonverbal signals, but more recent and reliable findings claim that it is closer to 65 percent. We perceive body language, voice intonation, and even breathing patterns when engaging with others, and imperceptibly mirror and adapt. Most of this information disappears when an online meeting is an endless slideshow and we are alone on our siloed screens.

Most of our historical experience with online learning is in the form of webinars. (Snore). No wonder we are resistant and exhausted. IOL is the opposite of a webinar. Most people dislike webinars for two primary reasons. Can you guess why?

Reason#1: they are boring. The reason they are boring is because we are deprived of a majority of the information required in order to learn. Just staring at slide after slide with a disconnected voice forces the brain to go into overdrive and wears us out.

Reason #2: we are not involved. Meaning we are not engaged. Webinars are like a content firehose designed with information as the primary driver and not the audience. They deliver words and pictures to the void, while the audience is typically unseen and uninvolved except for random chat. Although as presenters we feel that this is best way to deliver information, the exact opposite is true.

Somehow, we have been led to believe sharing slides online is highly professional, and will have the same effectiveness as learning in real life, but it isn’t. This is nothing like real life.

Webinar participants don’t see the speaker unless it is a tiny box, don’t see each other, and don’t feel a part of a group. As a result, we get bored, the brain gets tired, and we start doing other things. Just think about the emails, articles and other websites you personally have perused during a webinar. That is what your audience is doing no matter how valuable the information. It has become a digital Pavlovian bad habit. Our learning and retention go down to the bare minimum and we typically feel very tired afterwards, and our stress responses go up.

By contrast, IOL is about putting the audience first.

It is about integrating as many nonverbal cues as possible. Both by seeing the speaker, seeing each other and creating more deliberate interactions frequently to simulate real life. When we are online, it is important to emphasize and utilize as many interactive tools as possible to keep the audience engaged and learning optimally, even when on a screen.

For example, a multi-city membership group on the East Coast of professionals in the elder care and aging industries decided to move their chapter meetings online after the shelter-in-place orders, and hired me to coach them in how to make them meaningful and engaging. The goal was to recreate the experience of networking, sharing coffee and bagels, sharing leads or connections and then listening to a guest speaker. The initial meeting was set up with the speaker talking early on and breakout groups came later. It went fine, but even I missed something important.

No one cares about a guest speaker when everyone around you is getting sick.

We realized afterwards that everyone was so emotionally strained from being in the hotspot of the coronavirus, they needed to connect with each other more than they needed to learn, and that had to come first. We changed the agenda to have a spacious breakout group at the start and reduced the speaker presentation down dramatically and eliminated all slides. The impact was dramatic. People felt seen, heard and after connecting, they had all regulated together emotionally and were much better prepared to listen to a speaker’s modified presentation that focused only on highlights with a lot more time for large gallery view group Q&A.

The benefits of Integrated Online Learning techniques is creating digital intimacy. Just like Rhesus monkeys, we truly need each other to regulate and consequently, to learn. There is something radically personal about seeing everyone in their home environment and having time to chat. It is actually more vulnerable and more real than the polished self we bring to a hotel conference room or classroom. Leverage that. Settle into it. Let it serve as an added tool in your work.

IOL Approach and Protocols to Make Zoom Events Rock

Enough with stupid webinars. Just put the PowerPoint down and Get Real. The integrated online learning approach accounts for the collective and unconscious methods of communication that we take for granted in person and accentuates them in the virtual space.

The key hinges on the prioritization of connection, transitions, storytelling, and engagement from moment one and throughout the agenda. This infuses energy, participation and interaction to keep the brain interested and as a result increases retention and people leave feeling energized and not only wanting more but returning for the next time.

It is very tiring for the brain to have to focus in such a singular way. Normally we have the benefit of being with a group of other people, the transition of driving to get there, and the energetic sense of the group in general. When a lot of people are energized and paying attention, we pay attention too. It feeds the speaker as well and a rich connective exchange begins to take place.

It requires a tremendous effort to duplicate that in virtual space. Just being aware of this will help guide you to tailoring your presentation to their reality, not the other way around.

Three Keys in Creating an Effective Online Event

#1: Begin your gathering in the role of cocktail party host or MC

Creating an Integrated Online Learning environment begins from the very first few seconds everyone comes on the call. I can’t stand it when the facilitator doesn’t talk or greet everyone until the top of the hour and we all sort of sit around in awkward multi-screen silence. What kind of message is that?

The ideal scenario is to get on early, and imagine your first job is to serve as a cocktail party host or MC of an event. When your guests arrive at a live party, the natural role is to be bubbly, welcoming and instructive. You invite your guest in, thank them for coming and tell them where to put their coat, get a drink etc. You may even introduce a few guests to each other with a few tidbits they may have in common.

Imagine hosting a cocktail party or event and greeting everyone with total silence, assuming they will figure it all out and not really speaking until everyone is finally sitting down. Of course not! Yet many highly accomplished speakers and trainers do just that when hosting a Zoom call. There is an awkward silence at the start of many online meetings while everyone is coming on that is not only wasted time, but it is dangerous time. You are telling your audience from the very start that you really don’t matter, so in turn, they barely pay attention.

Instead, use a quick trick to align your group visually first by putting everyone in Gallery view so we an SEE each other. It makes us pay attention and is more fun. Second, teach everyone how to use the mute button by opening up the mic’s and letting everyone HEAR each other holler a hello. It is raucous but gets our attention. Finally, have everyone DO something with a mindful use of the chat box for introductions and a fun icebreaker like typing in their favorite dessert. This takes less than five minutes and will align and engage the entire group almost instantly. Suddenly, they matter.

#2: Serve Your Agenda in Bite Sized Pieces

Without the benefit of live interaction, create your agenda with more time for interaction before, during and after the key content delivery. Design your talk or presentation in bite sized pieces rather than a long firehose of slides, and then add in opportunities to engage the senses, get the audience involved and have more fun. The goal is to develop an ambience and energy to drive the same impact as if you were live. Some of the strategies and tactics are unintuitive at first, but they work. See my free six video series for more details on agenda design and online event strategies.

#3: Create Community & Use Rituals

Think about some of our favorite talk shows like Ellen or the Late Show. They have certain rituals to connect with the audience and their guests. Many start the show literally walking around the audience - why? Because it gives THEM energy. They tell a few jokes and everyone gets warmed up. Ellen has her iconic dance; David Letterman had his banter with Paul Shaffer.

When you are leading an online event, get less serious and more connected to your audience. It’s not about you, it’s about them. Create Community first. Loosen up the flow. Let people talk and set up some fun rituals everyone will come to know and love. They build a bond with your audience, wake up the brain and prepare everyone to learn together.

Rituals include:

· Bringing a drink or snack to share on camera

· Dressing up “From the waist up”

· Creating an alternative to clapping with a silent hand rub as a way to acknowledge each other

· Starting or ending with music and having a two minute dance party

· Keeping the call open for an extra 15 minutes to “hang out at the bar”

Transform Zoom Gloom to Zoom Zoom Zoomin’ Good Times

Groups who have met online consistently in highly interactive events with the IOL techniques often remark they feel the same afterwards as if it were live. There is a positive energy that stays with you when the collective energy is harnessed.

There was an international group of experts I worked with who met online quarterly in highly interactive Zoom meetings for almost a year, and later met in person at a conference. Several of them tracked me down to exclaim they met up with these virtual colleagues and only after some time did they realized they had never met in person. They forgot, because it did not matter.

The world is changing. Cocooning at home and virtual events are the new norm. Whether it is a global pandemic or unexpected disasters related to climate change we are learning it may no longer be possible or necessary to gather IRL. The sooner we adapt and bring the power of human connection on screens the better.

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