Virtual Communication Ideas Worth Sharing with Dr. Laura Sicola

Vocal Empowerment for Virtual Communication

We’ve gone from phone, to email, to text, to video. Communication is constantly evolving. But many people are still not very good at it.

And despite the fact that we spend so much time communicating over video it’s surprising that so few people take the time to improve their virtual communication skills.

Are you adapting with these changes to make sure you’re both heard and, more importantly, understood?

Listen to this conversation between Dr. Laura Sicola and hosts Ira S Wolfe and Jason Cochran on the Geeks, Geezers, Googlization Podcast. Level up your virtual communication game and bring your best in-person self to video. It’s simpler than you may think, and the gains are off the charts!

More than just words

While many people may still hold onto the idea of conventional communication, for Dr. Laura Sicola, communicating is more than just exchanging words. Dr. Laura embraces the significance of being both heard and misunderstood. Her journey as a teacher, and early struggle to become an effective communicator, led her down the path of training and motivating others to reach their communication potential. With more than 6 million TEDx talk views, Dr. Laura Sicola definitely shares ideas worth listening to.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

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The best way to make someone think you’re smart is the make them feel smart

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Virtual communication highlights your weaknesses, take steps to improve how you show up on video

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Make sure your words, voice, and body all send one clear message to avoid miscommunication

Who is Dr. Laura Sicola?

With a PhD in Education Linguistics from University of Pennsylvania, where she taught from 2001to 2013, Dr. Laura is an international communication and influence expert. She is a professional and renowned professional author, speaker, executive coach, trainer, podcast and TEDx speaker. She hosts a popular podcast ‘Speaking to Influence: Communication Secrets of the C-Suite.’ Her very popular TED Talk ‘Want to sound like a leader?’ starts with an amazingly simple exercise: saying your name right.

Dr. Laura is a founder of Vocal Impact Productions. She has trained and coached executives at IBM, US Department of Commerce, Women against Abuse, as well as politicians, business owners and non-profit leaders from all around the world. She has spoken at thousands of conferences, including Special Business Women of California Conference & Pennsylvania Conference for Women.

New Motivation and Sense of Purpose

Dr. Laura recognizes first-hand how upsetting it can be when others don’t listen and/or you are misunderstood. She learned from her own personal experiences. She found that she was not alone. How to be heard by others around us is a more common affliction than most of us want to admit.

While pursuing her PhD, she focused on finding a solution to help others. Her research focused on understanding speech through different perspectives – what it was, how it works, how our brain is impacted by it, and how our brain impacts our speech.

Laura discovered new motivation and a sense of purpose from empowering others to communicate well, to be heard and seen for who they are. She realized that this communication gap was pervasive and not only provided a crisis of confidence but source of conflict and frustration. So she decided to do something about it and started training people on how to communicate more effectively.

Evolution of Communication

During the podcast, Dr. Laura offered what you might call a masterclass in effective communication. She shed light on how communication has evolved over time. Effective communication is not just about your choice of words. Instead, she elaborated on the three key elements of confident and authentic communication, which enable leaders and others to carve what she calls a “strong relatable vocal presence” that creates a positive impact.

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Command the room

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Connect with the audience

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Close the deal

Laura discovered new motivation and a sense of purpose from empowering others to communicate well, to be heard and seen for who they are. She realized that this communication gap was pervasive and not only provided a crisis of confidence but source of conflict and frustration. So she decided to do something about it and started training people on how to communicate more effectively.

Creating a Relatable Virtual Presence

Dr. Laura shared tips on how to connect with your audience, particularly in the now very common virtual setting. Because presenters and participants may not be able to see the entire audience on the screen, it can be a bit more challenging to engage with the target people. To connect more effectively, she suggests that you imagine a good friend, colleague, or co-worker sitting in front of you. If it helps, place their image in front of your camera. This takes your brain to a comfortable place and helps you relax your nerves and smile. By allowing your energy levels to go up, this measure helps you become more relatable and connected.

Be the Star of your Show

Speakers too often allow their Powerpoint presentation to be the star of the show which diverts attention away from you, the speaker. The audience has a choice – watch the slides or watch you! That’s not to say you should never use slides. But when you do, don’t use too much text. Again, their attention goes to the slide, and they miss what you say. Dr. Laura offers these tips:

Be the star of your show
Go easy on the slides.
Own your content (Act like you know what you’re talking about).
Understand your audience.
Be the expert but don’t try to sound smart just for the sake of sounding smart.
Simplify and diversify your content.

For more details,

Click Here to Listen

Power of Right Equipment

Your gadgets and equipment play a critical role in making you a successful communicator. Imagine having a microphone that makes your voice sound muffled. It will fatigue the listener and their interest will wane. Effective communication requires an investment in the right equipment. Make it easy and convenient for your audience

Ready to level up your communication? Dr. Laura Sicola has answers?

Click play to listen

What to listen for

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[04:31] Helping people feel heard

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[07:50] The impact of switching to virtual communication

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[09:45] Simple tips for showing up as your best self on video

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[12:03] Bridging the gap between what you want to say and what’s heard

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[16:32] How to tell stories instead of reading scripts

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[19:20] Debunking oral communication myths

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[24:03] Do your words have teeth?

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[26:17] A masterclass in saying your name right

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[29:54] Letting your brain catch up to your ears

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[34:59] Laura’s hardest moment as a speaker