YK's Leadership Development Program on Zoom

Last week had been a relatively busy week for me – but it’s good to be busy, more so during a lockdown. 

And I was involved in a six-day Yayasan Khazanah’s Leadership Development Program on “Communication and Influencing Skills” with Ahmad Fakhri and fellow speech coaches – and it was a blast! 

Using both Zoom (who doesn't know Zoom?) and Padlet (a web app that lets users post notes on a digital wall) on the laptop and smartphone was a new proposition. Especially the latter which is really an online bulletin board, but with a lot of things a regular bulletin board could never do.

In a sense, Padlet is about having your very own digital community and in a way, it lends a personal touch to the whole online learning experience.

I was given four time-slots for the four groups I'm coaching spread over three days. I'm happy to note that all of the students did immensely well when they presented their 4-minute speeches on Friday. 

And when five of the YK scholars entrusted to me made it to the Speakers’ Showcase yesterday, that was icing on the cake.

Overall, I have enjoyed the sessions because I sensed their genuine desire to learn and take in whatever that's being shared. And that gives me a sense of accomplishment.

Still, I must admit that I do miss in-person meetings. 

After all, when we speak and meet people face-to-face, we get most of our information about what they’re thinking or how they’re reacting from body language and facial expressions. And body language also helps the brain remember these interactions by attaching emotion to them. 

In a virtual setting, we get far less information, and we, therefore, generate a lot less emotion we can use to decode the intent of others and solidify memories. 

The end result is that we don’t remember as much from virtual meetings. 

Without social cues, we risk misunderstandings and can’t tell how we’re doing. That’s true because at a virtual meeting, it’s harder to know if your audience is bored to tears, lost, or totally engaged. 

To me, in face-to-face encounters, you can get your point across to all types of learners – but in the average virtual meeting, it can be a challenge to engage those that veer towards kinesthetic learning. 

So, really, in-person meetings connect people and just as important, they create experiences within the real-world. In other words, they build relationships. 

Let's hope we see a return to these type of meetings soon.