This research is just catnip for me. Researchers on behalf of the coaching platform BetterUp looked into successful Zoom usage and built a database of how people interact on Zoom and had conversations rated, looking for what worked.
The highest-rated conversationalists had a few things in common. They:
- Spoke ~3% faster —about six additional words per minute.
- They varied their volume, possibly because they were adjusting to the room.
- They nodded and shook their heads more often, signaling appropriate responses and attentiveness.
- Mixed it up, but not too much. They knew how to stay on topic and introduced more subject changes.
- They were more “intense,” exhibiting more emotion.
And things they didn’t find?
There’s no evidence that people dislike Zoom and that chatting makes people happy, even on Zoom. Or how about video chat making it hard for people to have smooth conversations? Nope.
There’s a difference between technology working and technology being effective. Which offer do you think customers value more? Having Zoom be available, or teaching leaders how to effectively deliver messaging via the medium?
Many successful providers couple training offerings with their services offerings. What I find most notable here is that the ones who lean into success do so, moving beyond just reaching what a product does.
And research like this is the input to developing those courses.