Episode 136: How to use body language to increase participation in your virtual workshops with Mark Bowden
Voted the #1 Body Language Professional in the world for two years running, Mark Bowden is passionate about giving your audience the most influential and persuasive communication techniques to stand out, win trust, and gain credibility every time they speak. Inspiring, energetic, engaging, and entirely entertaining, Mark’s memorable talks and training programs not only educate but have proven life-changing in helping people and organizations grow across all industries and sectors.
Mark Bowden is back!
It sounds weird to say this: But this guy makes you feel at home when you chat to him. Yes, I know we’re all at home already — he’s curious, he uses your name when he talks to you, he asks questions, he nods, he does all the things to make you feel safe and ready to contribute.
I spoke to Mark in Episode 102 of the First Time Facilitator podcast, and it’s the #1 most downloaded episode of all time! Last time we spoke, we discussed body language tips for real world workshop facilitation.
It’s funny what changes in less than a year! Or in our case, in 30 episodes.
So, I brought Mark back on the show, to share how we can use our body language to create engagement and connections quickly, in the virtual world.
The answer is more reassuring than you think.
From my perspective - he’s been there, done that but my favourite thing about Mark is how funny, down to earth and comfortable he is to be around.
With our Virtually Possible community opening last week, I also decided to hand over the microphone to the group, and let them ask Mark some questions.
A big thanks to those from VP who joined live and felt comfortable coming off mute to ask Mark a question, you kept the fabulous group interview going, I salute you!
About our Guest: Mark Bowden
Voted the #1 Body Language Professional in the world for two years running, Mark Bowden is passionate about giving your audience the most influential and persuasive communication techniques to stand out, win trust, and gain credibility every time they speak. Inspiring, energetic, engaging, and entirely entertaining, Mark’s memorable talks and training programs not only educate but have proven life-changing in helping people and organizations grow across all industries and sectors.
Mark’s work is consistently invaluable to sales and leadership teams, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, and prime ministers of G7 powers. His highly acclaimed TEDx talk has reached millions of people, and he has presented to many of the biggest, coolest, and most innovative organizations in the world, including Shopify, Dell, Viacom, RBC, Fidelity, Amex, Unilever, Daimler, Microsoft, Toyota, VW, Samsung, KPMG, GSK, Walmart, Nestle, and even Real Madrid.
In this episode you will learn:
How to lead the behaviour in a virtual session using your body language, and positive affirmations to create that safe space
Techniques to ramp up your energy by using different camera angles and positions (think, scene changes)
How camera angles affect intimacy of conversation during virtual sessions
How our primitive brain works in a virtual environment and how to best utilise it
The difference between why people are engaged or disengaged in a virtual meeting
Questions asked in this show include:
It is difficult to read the body language in a virtual session, what can we do to compensate for that?
How much do we need to ramp up our gestures and body language in front of a webcam?
What’s your view on standing up or sitting down in a virtual session?
How does the primitive brain work in a virtual environment and to best utilise it?
What can you do to establish a really strong connection or rapport quickly?
Where do you think the future of technology used in virtual facilitation is going?
Resources:
Watch the video! Leanne Hughes along with the Virtually Possible community chat to Mark Bowden
About your host: Leanne Hughes
Leanne Hughes is an international facilitator, speaker and coach who loves creating unpredictable workshop experiences, that predictably work.
She combines her experience in Marketing, with her education in Human Resources and Psychology, to help leaders create engaging everyday experiences - that are so contagious they scale across teams, functions and regions.
Leanne has facilitated leadership, onboarding and team-development workshops across Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Singapore and believes in a strengths-centred approach to learning and development. She has over 13 years’ of experience across a range of industries including mining, government and tourism sectors.
She’s the host of the First Time Facilitator podcast and was a finalist in the 2018 Australian Learning Impact awards for Learning Professional of the Year.
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Please leave me a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so I can thank you personally.
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Grab my cheat sheet:
The 5 unpredictable ways to start a Zoom meeting (that predictably work)
Episode 102: Using body language to create a powerful workshop experience with Mark Bowden
You know when you run a workshop, every now and then you peer around the room to see who’s paying attention, who looks interested (and, who doesn’t!) and you make judgments based on what you’re seeing from up the front of the room? I thought that was a key part of being a facilitator - being observant of your participant's body language.
You know when you run a workshop, every now and then you peer around the room to see who’s paying attention, who looks interested (and, who doesn’t!) and you make judgments based on what you’re seeing from up the front of the room? I thought that was a key part of being a facilitator - being observant of your participant's body language.
Well today’s guest has completely blown my mind on all of that. I wish I had spoken to this guy at the beginning of my career, this interview had a profound impact on me. I don’t want to give too much away before I share the episode, but I’ve got to say, it’s one of the most important conversations I’ve ever had - and not just because he played the Orc General in the Lord of the Rings movies, either!
My guest today is Mark Bowden, a global authority on nonverbal communication, voted #1 Body Language Professional in the world for two years running. He's a sought after keynote speaker internationally and president of the National Communication Coach Association of Canada, while also training groups and individuals on how to use their body language to stand out, win trust and gain credibility every time they communicate.
Mark is passionate about giving people the most influential and persuasive communication techniques to stand out, win trust, and build credibility every time they speak.
In this episode, you’ll learn about how you can project the brand image you want when you deliver a workshop, how to be a more 'lazy facilitator' and when to have/relinquish control.
If you'd like to watch Leanne Hughes' interview with Mark Bowden, you can watch it over on YouTube.
About our guest: Mark Bowden
Mark is the founder of communication training company TRUTHPLANE® his clients include leading business people, teams, and politicians, presidents and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and Prime Ministers of G7 powers.
He is a bestselling author of 3 books on the subject of body language and human behaviour, with his first book Winning Body Language now translated into five different languages. Presentation trainer for The Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA, ranked #1 in the world by The Economist, Mark is also a member of the TED community having spoken at TEDx Toronto. Mark can be seen regularly on Canadian network CTV’s daily talk show The Social as the resident Body Language expert.
Resources mentioned:
Watch the interview! Leanne Hughes chatting to Mark Bowden on the First Time Facilitator podcast
Like this show?
Please leave me a review here — even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so I can thank you personally.
Tweet Leanne your number one takeaway from this episode!
Quotes:
“Non-verbal communication can trigger other human beings into feeling like they have a very accurate assessment of what’s going on in somebody’s mind.”
“Stars are guiding light in the sky that in the darkness you can still navigate and get to where you want to be. Actors are like stars, we’re taking the journey with them to an emotional place.”
“Branding is the experience we want our audience to feel about us.“
“I avoid the idea that I need to be aggressive with the audience, what I need them to do, is to know that it’s fun and it’s safe around me.”