If we are Destined to Influence through a 16″ Screen then we’d better get good at it!
Covid came, disaster and thankfully it has strolled on to wreak havoc on another planet…we hope. Not to mention it left behind online-only annoying chats with big brands (no phones allowed), an understanding that we do quite like to be together and that we now need to do what we do through little screens, a lot. So here comes the topic of how to influence through a 16-inch screen.
As humans, we have just got around to learning that our words, tone, and body language matter, and now we’ve got to do all that but only using our heads and shoulders. Well, if it has to be then it has to be. We’d better get used to it and accept its shampoo time for influencing online. Just our head and shoulders it is.
Whether you are presenting, influencing, selling, or just in a meeting, making your presence known relies on learning a whole new way of influencing. Learn it or get carted away by the same people that heard the IBM guy say in the 670s, ‘The world will only need a few computers’. These 7 how-tos are essential in raising your influence through the tiny portals we now use to communicate with other humans.
Use These 7 Tips for Betting Influencing Through Device Screens
#1- Frame Yourself Like the Mona Lisa:
Let’s see all of your head and as much of your shoulders as possible. Make sure there is little headroom above you. Optimise yourself within the screen.
#2- What You’re Hiding in the Background:
Recent research suggests that the corporate blurred backgrounds make us think that you are hiding something. Humans prefer the authentic you. So turn off the blurred backgrounds because you have nothing to hide.
#3- Sitting in Front of a Window, Lit Up Like the Messiah Just Doesn’t Work:
It may have worked for Patrick Swayze in Ghost but for you, we just can’t make out what you are doing, so we trust you less. Move to another location for better influence through a 16-inch screen.
#4- Bring Your Hands Up and Use Them to Influence:
Saying a number? Well, show it on your hands. Want to show them that you are considering something? Put your hand on your chin. All in all, be overt with your hand language. Help them to understand what you are ‘saying’.
#5- Don’t Use Slides Where Possible:
Yes, I know I have just said the equivalent of Macbeth. Bring what you want to life with a story, draw it, and hold up a graph. Anything, but making the person 1” by 1” where you cannot see what they are really thinking.
#6- Don’t Be Late:
The same rules apply to meetings. Booking your calendar like an expert Tetris player won’t work. Book your meetings to end in 55 minutes. Give yourself those few minutes of a break. This is crucial if you want to influence through a 16-inch screen with success.
#7- Don’t Make Me Talk to Your Ear:
Imagine us looking at the side of your head during a meeting because you have two screens and you talk into the other one. You cannot influence with an ear (I also love the irony of that sentence because active listening is great for influencing people).
Hopefully, these 7 tips on how to influence through a 16-inch screen would help you to strive for success. Check us out on Linkedin if you haven’t already.
