Jazz hands - how to run a Skype meeting
One of the difficult things about working on Skype or Google Hangout is that it strips us of the social cues that normally oil the wheels of good conversation, that little lean forward, opening of the mouth, intake of breath before someone interjects. (If these social cues don't mean anything to you then you are either spending way too much time online, or bereft of social skills. Either way stop reading this and go and talk to someone immediately)
One of the things we've been exploring at Nominet Trust is how do you replicate a natural flow of conversion when working on video conferencing that just isn't subtle enough to pick up on these?
A 1-1 call is less of a problem. But when you have a group talking online, or 1 person online and the rest physically in a room, the flow of conversation can be really challenged. I am sure you've been there in a meeting where the whole flow of the debate stops so you can 'check in' with the person on Skype to be sure they are hearing everything.
We've got a few solutions to these problems:
Unlikely as it may fist appear, a particularly effective answer involves the ancient art of jazz hands.
Stick with me.
Direct democracy - something that's gained popularity among many social movements, most recently the Occupy Movement - is a really useful way of visually getting a sense of what is happening in a room and ensuring everyone's voice is heard. Other than being good for mass protest meetings and occupying stock exchanges, it also translates very well to video conferencing.
At its heart is a system of hand signals to show how you are feeling. 'Twinkling fingers' or 'Jazz hands' means you agree with what is being said for example. Raising a hand means you have something to say.
While you may feel like an idiot the first time you unleash your jazz hands to show agreement with what someone is saying, it's actually an incredibly valuable way to signpost how people are feeling without collisions over the sound in a call. Try it once and I guarantee you will find yourself effortlessly pick up the habit. Indeed so much so that it will you'll find yourself doing it in really inappropriate situations, like in the pub when someone says 'shall I grab some crisps'. The whole process itself is more fully explained on the image and couple of links below. But even if you just take on board the jazz hands to show agreement and giving a cue to say you have something to say, your group Skype and Hangout calls will go much easier, I assure you. It's worth saying that in a bigger group you will need someone to take the facilitator role to ensure that people are being given equal voice, and help steer the conversation.
http://www.zhaba.cz/uploads/media/Shared_Path.pdf
For those who are particularly used to working with chat windows and Skype simultaneously, the chat function can also serve as a place to use a text interpretation of this kind of hand signal. But in my experience this can often lead to a splitting on conversation between those speaking and those who are typing, the physical hand signals means everyone keeps focused on a single conversation.
Another solution that has been really effective is when you have one person joining a physical meeting by video conferencing and you don't feel comfortable introducing everyone to jazz hands (shame on you). Firstly, don't underestimate the value of a good table mic so they can hear everyone speaking. It makes for more natural conversation and ensures that people don't have to do their 'Skype voice' (which sounds like they are talking to their deaf nan). Secondly, its really handy to have a private chat window open between yourself and the person Skyping in. That way you can cue each other about when something isn't heard or when the Skype caller needs to interject.
Ultimately though, if we all took on hand signals system there would be no need for private chat windows, and all our video conferencing would be much more interesting and more inclusive. So I urge you, find your inner jazz hands and share them with the world!
Comments
Videos?
Thanks for this Kieron - really useful. I wonder if it might be useful to have some videos on Youtube / Vimeo to explain such signs (if they don't exist already!)....
Jazz Hands - how to run a skype meeting
Hi Kieron,
Your post raises important points about how (hearing) people communicate on skype and managing video conferencing.
I was prompted after being shown it by @stevieflow (during a skype call) and immediately replied to him 'hang on one of the signs is err very rude in BSL!' And then told him! I was also confused by some of the others as the sign (if in BSL) had no relation to the word in English.
As a Deaf person we rely totally on visual clues in the skype video conversation with both Deaf and hearing people (if we miss or don't understand something that is where chat IM comes in as back up).
If other people in the video call are Deaf then we each take it in turns to respond and wait for the other person to finish. In many ways we do this naturally as that is one of the etiquette's of BSL (unless it's a heated conversation and we then sign 'sorry must interrupt' or 'stop') then agree who goes next or who every strongly puts their point across continues signing.
With BSL we are totally focused on this way of conversing something that never fully happens in my experience in the hearing world - you just jump in with your point and yes subtile body language signals of person moving forward to speak etc. comes into it however emphasis is on speech and the tone.
However ... the use of Jazz hands raises an important and fundamental issue about language and the use of signs.
BSL is a recognised language in the UK - it is a visual language (the first printed BSL dictionary took 20 years to produce). It has it's own structure, syntext and tense and so on. It is not a signed imitation of English but a widely rich cultural language in it's own right. There are 70,000 Deaf people in the UK who's first or main language is BSL. We are widely excluded from society particularly digitally by the nature of our deafness and lack of access online (that's another conversation to be had).
So ... if I (as a Deaf person) were to be presented in a skype video conference with hearing people suggesting they use the signs above I would be confused about their meaning as I would immediately interprete them differently in BSL. There is no way of getting away from that.
Some of the signs could also be seen as offensive. For example this can depend whether you are signing with the sign and location in the area in front of you (body, face area) Ages are signed by the nose area (1 year's old, 2 years old, 3 years old etc) yet the same signs '1', '2', '3' are signed in front of the body and mean numbers.
There are also regional signs in different places of the UK (even numbers can be signed differently) and signs will have different meanings as they do in other languages such as in French Sign Language, American Sign Language, Spanish Sign Language and so on. 'Where' in BSL means 'What' in ASL.
People move their hands when talking so signs may be that initial sign changes completely and has another meaning all together.
On the other side of the coin if in BSL I was to sign 'lazy' or 'holiday' (a Newcastle upon Tyne regional sign) when talking to a hearing person they would think I'd just 'fliped the bird' at them!
So here's Jazz sign and the BSL sign meanings:
Jazz sign: want to talk BSL: 'hang on', 'hold on', 'wait'
Jazz sign: direct response BSL: 'point', 'you'
Jazz Sign: clarify BSL: letter 'C' in the alphabet
Jazz Sign: point of order BSL: a 'triangle' or depending on how sign is positioned including if signed by the face has a number of sexual meanings and sexual slang interpretations!
Jazz Sign: agree BSL: 'stop' (as in 'stop what you are doing', 'stop talking'
Jazz Sign: don't agree BSL: 'down', 'fire', warm self by a fire'
Jazz: sign: block BSL: 'love', 'embrace','hug', 'cuddle'
I'm not wanting to stop signs being used to improve communication on skype conferencing between hearing people but bear in mind if you use them when on skype to me (or other Deaf people) I for one am going to be interpreting what you say differently.
Thanks, Alison aka @peskypeople | www.peskypeople.co.uk
really useful
Thanks Alison this is really useful and important to know. I guess the hand signals I was talking about are just one of the things that's just evolved from using it in a different context. But as you rightly point out, language (whether sign or otherwise) never exists in a vacumn!
It makes me think that we're developing an ability to communicate using new mediums (like video conferencing) and in fact some existing languages - like BSL are very well adapted to doing it already. So if we're finding hand signal usefuls to assist in Skype calls then we should be drawing on the rich and existing language of BSL already!
Also though we need to build in time and understanding to get used to commuicating in new (digital) spaces. For example, checking in at the beginning of a Skype call as to the meaning of any non verbal language we use. As it happens I've gotten in the habit of of trying to build in some time at the start of a Skype meeting to let the tech go wrong for a bit (!) It strikes me that this is a great opportunity to touch base about non vernal language used as well.
Maybe we could get some suggestions of simple signs from BSL that people could use to help them in their Skype calls (e.g. I agree / disagree, I have a point, I'd like to add etc?)
Love it!
I'm a big fan of the 'jazz hands' approach to group discussions, and I will definitely be trying this out in future.
Great tip, Kieron!
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