Communication is entering a new era, and businesses should not stay behind
These days Clubhouse is one of the most trending social platforms. Even so, that every tech company in the social media or audio industry decided to build similar functionality. Facebook already announced a similar functionality.
All this news about Clubhouse and organizations building similar functionality reminded me about the podcast war. Apple and Spotify are trying to beat each other on having the best podcast content. Both companies are heavily investing in podcasting. Apple is even expected to launch a paid podcasting subscription tonight during their event.
In the meantime, Reddit is working on incorporating an audio-only feature in their product to enable their community to communicate both through written words and audio-only, empowering them to have a ‘real’ conversation.
Audio-only is trending, and it seems that society made its choice. We want to have ‘real’ connections, listen and participate in ‘real’ conversations. But what about video? The most favored communication method of the last years? Well, I think COVID-19 made us realize that all that screen time isn’t very healthy. We need to broaden the ways we communicate.
I believe communication is one of the most valuable skills a person can possess. Master it, and you can create miracles and change the world. That is why I decided to write down my thoughts about the recent changes in communication. Organizations can learn a lot from all these developments and use the lessons learned to improve their communication methods.
Clubhouse
Let us get started with the most recent change. Clubhouse, in a nutshell, lets people listen in to conversations. They made radio an open social platform, open as you do not need to be a host or celebrity to access it. Think about it, listening in on an interesting live conversation; we have been doing that for over 100 years. Podcasting made radio accessible on-demand, while at the same time a bit less ‘authentic.’ Clubhouse evolved radio and brought it to the 21st century. It is just a shame that the radio itself did not see the possibilities here. Spotify did the same in the music industry; they broke it open and created endless possibilities.
The value of a conversation
But I have to be fair. It took a while before I understood the value. In the beginning, I thought it was just hype. However, the more I heard about Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg hosting’ talks,’ the more I believed it was here to stay. What triggered me was a remark that I heard various times throughout my life, in tv shows and conversations with people. It comes down to “If we only knew what was said in that room,” think about Cold War conversations, international scandals, trade deals, corporate meetings, etc. The list goes on and on. But why do we want to know what was said? I believe it is not the words that are interesting but the thoughts behind them. How did they come to an agreement? What was the overall thought pattern? I think that is what is most interesting about listening in on conversations, aka using Clubhouse, we want to know how people think. We want to understand how others work and learn from them. If people are so eager to understand how others think, is it safe to assume that Clubhouse is here to stay?
I am not sure if the value proposition of Clubhouse is unique enough to withstand the power of Spotify and Facebook. But I hope the product people there will prove me wrong. Still, I do believe that being able to listen to an exciting conversation has value. This brings us to the follow-up questions; Where is it useful? And can it ‘disrupt’ existing ways of communication?
The power of audio-only
To answer the questions where audio-only may be helpful and ‘disrupt’ existing communication methods, we need to gain insight into the strong points of audio-only.
You only have to listen.
Listening is the most challenging part of good communication. With audio-only, you can truly focus on the words spoken. You aren’t distracted by body language or that excellent powerpoint. Hence, content is king. This always reminds me of the US debate example between Kennedy and Nixon. During this debate, Kennedy made a better impression on TV than Nixon. However, radio listeners were more neutral (it is said that Nixon was the winner under radio listeners, but there is no clear evidence). This example illustrates many things influence us in communication. Of course, this is also the case with audio. It is easier to listen to a pleasant voice. But the fewer senses are involved, the less we are influenced.
Audio-only also benefits from combining it with things that don’t require much focus, like doing the dishes or exercising. Not to forgot that you could combine it with a nice walk outside, which is even more critical during the COVID epidemic.
Freedom of imagination
The same applies to written words. It gives you the freedom of imagination. The person speaking may paint a picture with words, but that doesn’t limit you. They are giving you the creative freedom to imagine the conversation/story in your head.
This is especially powerful for international communication because you allow your listeners to imagine the scene with their lens, accommodating most of the differences (except the actual context spoken). Though the downside of this is that it may confuse as well if the speaker is unaware of these differences.
Speed
Very practical, but very important. Audio-only enables us to communicate faster than other ways of communication. Writing a good story takes time and many iterations. Of course, telling a good story also takes time, but I believe it is easier to form the story in your head and speak up than writing that down on paper.
Where audio-only falls short
Audio-only is undoubtedly not always the best way. Below I will discuss some topics that you can better discuss using other means of communication. Imagine the horror if Ikea decided to podcast the instructions on building your furniture.
Complexity
You can explain complexity using audio-only. But there a few risks here. Maybe the listeners don’t pick up on the entire story you are telling, resulting in a 90% information transfer. Yet, you do not have control over what part is missing. With a drawing, you can ensure the key elements are in there. You can explain less critical context when you show the graphic.
Another risk is that people think they got your story, but they misinterpreted it. A further conversation might shine a light on these misunderstandings, but that is not a guarantee.
So when your goal is to explain topics or items that are complex, I would be wise to use visuals or written words as a backup.
Numbers and relations
Numbers always require context. Saying our customer base grew by 200% might sound incredible, but if I also tell you that we had one customer, you probably won’t be amazed. Also, these numbers might have an interesting relation. What if your customer base grew by 200%, but our annual recurring revenue was reduced by 50%. That makes you wonder what happened! That is why Business Intelligence (BI) grew exponentially over the last few years. A dynamic dashboard with several diagrams can quickly illustrate the importance of numbers and how they relate to each other. This is something to avoid with audio-only.
Facts and recollection
Imagine somebody starts telling you why Apple is better than Samsung. Such an argumentation could be an excellent fit for Audio-only. However, that is dependent on the type of argument made. If it is solely a feature comparison, it would not be an excellent fit for audio-only. You would forget the first feature after the tenth. Such a comparison can be visualized nicely in a table with red crosses and green checkmates, illustrating the winner clearly. In the case of facts and recollection, it would be better to switch to a combination of text and visuals to tell the message.
How to use audio-only in a corporate context
Based on the argumentation above, there are several aspects within the corporate world where audio-only can be a great fit. There are also a few points to take into consideration. The first is the ease of use. I believe audio-only can only work within the corporate context if it is easily accessible. If people have to download a file and then play it on their computer, you already lost. When I wrote this, I was like, “Great idea!”. I still think it is. I tried to find a solution that would make it easy to host podcasts internally, but I could not find anything. Standard podcasting platforms like Buzzsprout allow their podcasts to be seen by platforms like Spotify. An internal corporate podcast shouldn’t be accessible by the public. I would suspect a solution similar to Microsoft Stream, but for audio files only. Using a platform also keeps the organization’s knowledge safe, and new employees can listen to them to get up to speed.
The second is the increase in remote working due to COVID, and that it is expected to stay in the post-COVID era. There is a rising need for asynchronous communication to facilitate everybody’s needs regarding the work schedule. Chatting is the written form, but organizations should also better enable audio-only ways of communication. The third is the possibility of transcriptions. Imagine combining the speed audio with the flexibility of chatting. It would give asynchronous communication a new power-up.
Information sharing, aka updates
Emails, all those damn emails, all meant to inform you of stuff. However, I have to say that I choose reading over videos and listening. I like to control how I consume information and adjust the way and speed depending on the content, from scanning to thoughtfully reading. But as I said earlier, imagine hearing the company update on a pleasant podcast conversation where the CEO interviews the management and they tell how it is going. I think it is a lot more fun than a damn email. I can even do that while having a nice walk in the park. If there are many numbers involved, I would say do a podcast and share an infographic afterward showing the numbers. In light of this, you could also use a clubhouse-like set-up, do it live to improve the authenticity of the update. This could be more suited for essential updates.
Thought sharing
You can record a video, write a one-pager or do a drawing, yet in the initial phase of an idea or thought, sharing it with audio-only might be the best way. It is a lot quicker, reducing the chances of you narrowing the idea by accident. People tend to limit ideas when visualizing because the imagination of the people seeing the picture is limited. People can then listen to it whenever they want.
Conversations
The first argument against this is that you cannot see the body language of the other person. That is true; non-verbal makes up the most significant part of our communication. Yet, especially in these times, we should choose our ways of communication more carefully. Screentime is through the roof and continues to increase. I even bought some fantastic screen glasses to reduce to strain on my eyes. As a product manager, most of my time consists of calls and staring at the screen, interpreting the other person’s body language. Which, through video calling, is way more complicated than a real-life conversation. This has a massive impact on my energy levels, so I need to be more selective when a video call would best suit my needs. Otherwise, I am completely drained at the end of the day. Being more selective in communication methods helps us manage our energy levels throughout the day, so choose audio-only if that is possible for the conversations. Your colleagues will also thank you.
Summary
Audio-only is here to stay and can improve our work lives if organizations empower their employees. This means that organizations should provide audio-only solutions that are easy to use and have a transcript functionality. Such a platform empowers the employees and safeguards that the knowledge isn’t lost but archived somewhere within the organization. All people within the organization should be more selective when choosing their way of communication. Think about what you are trying to achieve and the needs of your colleagues. Do you want to share an update as manager or CEO? Do a podcast and encourage your employees to go for a walk. That walk also helps with their mental well-being.
This article made me realize that I should be doing more audio-only. I love writing, but I should broaden my horizon. So I will give podcasting a shot, I will start within my organization, and who knows, maybe I even go public. Only time will tell.
I hope you enjoyed reading this piece as much as I enjoyed writing and thinking about the subject. If you have any feedback, please let me know in the comments or contact me directly!
