Your message and other things you say

Was in on two teleconferences today, and in both cases the phone connected groups of people.  It’s always a weird dynamic when some people are live and some are remote.  But the principles of communication don’t change.

In both cases today, I watched people talk to the phone.  Stared it down.  Bored holes in it with eye contact.  And rarely even acknowledged the people in the room.  I observed the expected result.  Very mundane speech, little passion, and lots of run-on.  This is expected when a presenter doesn’t engage his audience.  I just can’t figure out why otherwise good presenters neglect the live audience for the remote one. At one point the local audience mashed the mute button and completely ignored the phone conversation completely.
Watch your local newscast as a case in point.  When the camera pans out and includes the whole desk of folks, they talk with one another while including the camera.  It comes across much more animated and natural.  When they stare into the camera on the tight shots, it is seldom as animated.

Include your live audience to increase energy and connectivity.