Awkward silence

I’ve been reflecting on the complex topic of hybrid video – and specially, video conferencing when there is a large group (like a classroom) face-to-face but also a group of people online. Even when the groups are not large – say 6 online and 6 in face-to-face in the same room. Making conversations work – and work equitably – in this case is a challenge.

One of the challenges as a facilitator is to balance silence. The teachers out there know that one trick when you want to get students to participate is to ask a question and let it hang in the room. You can let the silence go for as long as you want. Eventually it will get awkward enough that someone will jump in and fill it.

The challenge with the awkward silence in hybrid video is that the tolerance for length of silence in an online setting is much shorter than it is is for face-to-face. Actually – this might be a benefit to the online folks, who might otherwise not get to speak as much as the in-room folks. But really, it is the differences in perceptions that has me reflecting.

In conversation with my class, Autumm Caines made a reflection on why she thinks people tolerate silence less in the online setting – and that is that we often equate online to onscreen – and we have been conditioned to believe that dead-air is a bad thing on screen. There are very few spaces of silence in TV and in movies. As a result, we have been conditioned that when viewing a screen, there dead air should be avoided. Although this is just a hypothesis from Autumm – I like it. I think it does help to describe why silence online feels odd (even in a fully online video conference – silences feels odd).

When hosting a virtually connecting session, as a virtual buddy, you learn to allow for what feels like awkward silences. These are brief interludes that give those who are participating a chance to collect their thoughts – eventually someone will jump in an ask a question. This works most of the time for virtually connecting because both the virtual host (buddy) and the onsite host (buddy) understand the dynamic.

This brings me to another issue, one that happens when a facilitator uses the “popcorn” style of questioning in this hybrid environment. In my experience of being virtual, it is really difficult to see what is happening in the room. There are visual cues that easily get missed – like that small eye contact that indicates who will speak next. The folks who are online often get missed in this visualized queuing. As the virtual person wishing to speak, you are left with having to interrupt if you want to add to the conversation. This “popcorn” style is particularly difficult in a hybrid environment.

Those are a few reflections I wanted to make. I’m wondering, do you have experience with hybrid online – face-to-face communication? Do you have any recommendations for how to better facilitate this type of conversation?

Feature image by Mai Le via Flickr.