Video Is More Meaningful Than Audio
- Atlas Phones Blog
- 16 Aug, 2019
Video calls make up for what is missing with traditional voice calls. This includes the all important element of face to face conversation. Face to face conversations convey more information than just sound, but cues such as expressions and posture. These cues allow our conversations to be more meaningful and productive.
When having a face to face conversation, you comprehend more than just the words that are being said. There are three components in each conversation: affect, feeling and emotion.
During a video conference call, all three of these components can be observed. Through gestures, such as hand or head movements, emphasis can be used to create emotion or feeling. Eye contact is also a key component to face to face conversations that can conveys emotion such as appearing distracted or even annoyed (rolling eyes).
You can also observe affect, feeling and emotion through the posture of the other individuals in the call. Posture can convey confidence through sitting up straight, or disinterest by slouching.
One of the most important components to face to face conversation is the observance of facial expressions. Facial expressions give insight into what the other person is thinking, and represent emotions such as excitement, disapproval, etc. This adds value to the conversation by providing accurate portrayals of emotion that can’t always be conveyed through just audio.
The context surrounding conversations is equally important. These contexts can further social signals important to comprehending conversations. Three types of contexts that can be observed are social, situational and affective.
Social contexts represent the personality of the individual or individuals you are speaking with. This could include their gender or even nationality, as well as the way they are dressed or whether or not they are surrounded by others who may contribute to the conversation.
The situational context is where an individual is located, be it in the office, outdoors or in a hotel room. The location of the conversation affects the context of what is being said by influencing attitudes or conversation security. Situational contexts also include the nature of the conversation, and whether what is being discussed has already occurred, will in the future, etc.
Lastly, conversations can be influenced by affective contexts. This includes the state of mind of who you are speaking with. They could be agitated, distracted or tired. Their mental state can affect how your message gets across.
Traditional voice calls are simply not as accurate as video calls when portraying emotion. Being able to understand the state of mind of your audience, as well as their emotions or feelings can make for a more productive and meaningful conversation.
More here: https://telecomreseller.com/2019/07/10/video-says-more-than-audio/
