The Zoom Room: a very short story.

What a workshop I ran today. Four different levels of understanding and experience in the Zoom room, three different versions of the software being used – one of which I had never seen or used before. Lots of questions steering the session in different directions from the outset. By 11am, I was tired, insecure about my abilities, and dare I say it, but very a little intimidated by people in the room.

During the first break, I took a moment to think and reflect. I have been running these sessions for over a decade, and I’ve never had a bad review, ever. I used that experience, and past words of praise to remember that this is something I am skilled in. All that was needed was for me to think differently about this session, and let go of doing it the same way I had done before – this class needed me in different ways.

Coming back from that 15-minute break, I re-entered the Zoom room with confidence and an attitude of connecting and understanding the people in the session. I read the room, and the rest of the session was flawless in terms of my delivery. I changed my normal approach in order to accommodate the people there. At the end of the session, the software I was training in crashed and refused to work. I very calmly and confidently talked people through the processes I needed to show, as well as the application of those tools, and they understood and did the tasks efficiently.

People left the session energised, enthused and confident, and even told me they wanted to sign up for more of my sessions!

I found a way to reconnect with my strengths, be open about my weaknesses, and share what I know in a way that those in the room needed. Our attitude and mindset can make such a difference to our work. I really do enjoy running workshops, training and connecting with people.  

_{Photo by Compare Fibre via Unsplash}