Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Another fundamental in speak to people seems to have been lost.

I recently had the misfortune of sitting in a conference room for a period of time that was greater than three hours and somewhat less than an infinity of pain. I, and another couple dozen colleagues, was facing a giant screen to read important words in a PowerPoint. The speaker, the person educating us, was standing behind us and talking to the backs of our heads.

Some people, me, don’t hear well any more, so it helps to see the face and moving lips of a person speaking to us (me). Sigh. Forget it. Just read the words on the screen and tune out the voice of that person talking to he back of my head.

There is a fundamental of communication called “eye contact.” I don’t know if anyone else remembers that. I realize that different cultures assign different meanings to eye contact, but here in our American culture eye contact is important. Well, it used to be important. All these ZoomerTeams meetings where the eyes are not looking at the camera and hence no eye contact has perhaps changed that culture.

And this was always part of being polite and respectful. Two really old concepts.

Anyways, speaking to the back of heads definitely prevents eye contact. Well, another rant from an old man. Perhaps it is time to re-calibrate things I have learned and move on.