June. The solstice has been and gone so the nights are drawing in and it’ll soon be Christmas. On the plus side, we are seeing more people committing to running face-to-face events now that the restrictions are easing and organisations attempt to get their teams meeting up again. Although there will undoubtedly be an increase in remote working in the future, there really is no substitute for the benefits that come from physical, real-world meetings and events. Your ability to communicate, interpret and respond to non-verbal signals has evolved over thousands of years… there is no way anyone can adapt to a world that comes at you through a computer screen in a few months. Are you being "seen"?Working away from other people, with the limitations of digital check-ins can make you feel disconnected, undervalued and invisible. There are some interesting psychological factors that we have encountered about the “need to be seen”. Our latest blog article looks at the impact of not being "seen" in business,. Of course, some people don’t like to be seen. If you want to watch a confident, eloquent leader turn into a stumbling, inauthentic mannequin, just point a camera at them. It doesn’t even take a camera. Asking some people to make a presentation can be just as debilitating. In many ways, as they say, it’s “horses for courses”. At Colour;Noun, Howard has, in the past, happily performed to 2000 people in the Comedy Tent at the Reading Festival; Vicky has belted out the iconic Grizabella role from Cats to a 700-full theatre, completely unfazed when her microphone gave out on her. I’m certain neither of us would swap roles (you certainly wouldn’t pay to hear Howard sing) but finding your “happy place” in what could be a stressful situation is vital if you want to project authenticity and confidence. Authenticity and "trying too hard"One of the counter-intuitive things that we like, and that we often explore through Applied Improvisation, is the peril of trying too hard. Imagine a conversation about your hopes and ambitions for the next five years. The way you project yourself, the words you choose, the way you phrase things will be completely different when this conversation is with your friends in a social situation than it would be if the question came up in a job interview for a role that you really wanted. The pressure to look and sound good might cause you to stumble over your words, or possibly the outward projection of the image that you want to present might be a completely inauthentic version of who you are. Either way, it’s not the you that you are when you’re relaxed with your friends. Being authentic when addressing a bigger group is also vital. Company aims and ambitions can be impersonal, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t be communicated in a human way. We have long challenged the exclusivity and power-games that come from an over-use of buzzwords and jargon (and you might like to check out To Be Clear by Phillip Collins in this regard) and few things can create a barrier between the speaker and their audience more than using language that confers status or (you think) makes you sound clever. Upcoming events?If you are looking to re-connect people through a live, face-to-face event in the next few months and you would like to do something that announces that your business is back and looking to the future, we offer a free, no-obligation 60-minute phone or video consultation to talk through your ideas, hopes and what might be possible.
Just click on the link and pick a time!
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AuthorColour; Noun (Vicky Holding and Howard Karloff) Archives
November 2022
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