Talking in the dark

When I started this blog, my intention was to express my feelings about pending unemployment in a non-verbal way. I chose this medium because I can drone on and on, but also because I don't have to talk to anyone. Not that I am anti-social, but I might get emotional (See previous blog post) and I don't have time for that crap.

As May 22 approaches, I can't help but reflect on the new skills I still continue to tweak. Recently, I learned how to host webinars (you would know this if you've been reading my blog) and I feel that I am pretty good at it. My first webinar was very small so I was able to physically call the participants instead of using the long distance system-provided number. I facilitated a course about LinkedIn as a tool for increasing business results and personal development.

This was the perfect set up since the purpose of using LinkedIn is to make connections and communicate via the Internet. I enjoyed the session immensely and I think the participants did as well.

Fast forward to another session which had double the number of participants. It was not possible to physically call each person so I opted to use the teleconference function. I spent the next three hours talking to dead air. I have no doubt that the participants could hear me - they were actively asking questions and commenting as we viewed various functions. The problem was that I couldn't figure out how to hear them.

About three weeks prior to this, I attended a webinar training class facilitated by a colleague. I am 100% sure that she reviewed how to change the features to unmute everyone. I, however, failed to take copious notes. So there I was alone in my office, talking to no one.

You may think that talking comes quite easily to me and you would be correct. The challenge is talking with no audible response. Try it sometime. Call your answering machine and just talk to it for three hours. Ask it questions, give it directions, and tell it jokes. Then you will feel my pain.

** Lesson learned: take better notes when learning something new.