The world is a communication laboratory
I. Welcome back & follow up
Good Morning and thank you again for inviting me into your inbox. I write about insights and provocations on the evolving nature of digital design. You can always subscribe here.
It was Valentines Day this weekend đ I ended up happily working and reading.
Follow up:
đ Related to What comes after Facebook?
I received a few comments that Clubhouse feels more like a fad that is quickly getting bloated with self promotion. My goal is bringing up Clubhouse was not about the application specifically, but its style of presenting personalised content based on people you follow and interests. Where they really need to focus as bloat continues is what Tiktok does so well - ensuring only useful information finds me.
đ Related to What comes after Facebook?
Is Facebook copying Clubhouse? In a word, no. Perhaps thatâs where it started, but the premise and starting point of Facebook is completely different from Clubhouse. Rather I see this as Facebook adding drop-in audio, a technology, which sounds great! Discord appeared to drive a lot of initial popularity around drop-in audio. Slack promised it, but like Twitter, Slack seems to be slow on any new feature releases. I welcome more platforms incorporating drop-in audio, especially as we continue remote work.
đ Related to Content Moderation
From Platformer, in relation to the previous question over the role of âfairâ in content moderation.
The best fact-checking, I think, tells you if something actually happened or not. Did the politician say that? Did this publication actually report that? Does this photo show what it claims to show? One tier below, I think, you find efforts that attempt to sort through controversial matters of science: should I wear two masks to protect against COVID-19? How much more transmissible are the new variants?
Reading through Birdwatch so far, the big question users seem to be tackling is: is this insult fair? That can be a fair topic for conversation. But itâs usually a foolâs errand for a fact-checking project â even one that is taking pains not to describe itself as one.
Content moderation guidelines now looks like a matrix of fact checking, hypotheses, and principles.
II. The world is a communication laboratory
đ˘ Within our design studio, we believe in proactively investing in training and education for the entire team. Over the last few weeks, several team members in the studio took communication training to assist in strengthening their overall presence with [remote] presentations and discussion. I asked each person to provide their top take-aways, and this week, wanted to share a few of the best tips.
I. Stay loose, be ready - When we present, we often have a plan of attack. If that plan is disrupted, we may have a hard time conveying our ideas or getting back on track. When you present, or have a conversation, avoid thinking the conversation âmustâ go in a certain direction. Rather, plan for two main topics:
The goals or outcomes you want within the conversation or meeting
The points you want to convey, and not the exact words you want to use
From one designers notesâŚ
Reframe your goals to a personal preference on how a situation can turn out (âI would like it to happen that wayâŚâ). This will help you to get rid of any pressure you feel to converse perfectly, not forget anything, or sound confident. At the same time, it is important to not give up on your goals while doing so.
II. Less is more - People ramble when they answer questions. This can happen for a variety of reasons, but in meetings it can often be narrowed to a few standard culprits
Not being sure of the answer, but not wanting to admit it, and will discuss points around the answer.
Not being confident in the answer, so will discuss process and supporting arguments before revealing the answer.
Organising thoughts as you speak.
Confidence is conciseness. For most meetings and when being asked questions, I coach people to provide the answer first, being short and concise - ironically something I need to practice myself. Itâs good to be aware that if people want more information, they will ask more questions. Donât feel the need to fill space. Also the more information you give, the more questions you may invite - so prepare for that and think about the meetings goals. Lastly, words matter - itâs ok to be slower and selective.
III. The world is a communication laboratory - practice.
I simply loved this framing. We tend to think of âpresentingâ as the only time we can practice, which makes it difficult to practice. However any conversation we have can be a moment to practice conversational and speaking techniques.Â
From one designers notesâŚ
We can practice communication everywhere, from the supermarket to chatting with our friends. That is the key to really improve organically over time.
Happy conversing and see everyone next week!
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