Elina Tapio, Irja Seilola & Jarkko Keränen
In our presentation, we will present the findings of the project “Drop the Mic! Visual
and Embodied Interactional Skills in Online Meetings”. The goal of the project was
to help companies and other communities to change their communicational
practices so that they can 1) reduce stress caused by ineffective online meetings,
and 2) ensure that everyone has equal access and opportunities to participate in
online meetings.
The practices and skills that the project aims to implement to current company
culture come from visually oriented and signing communities.
During the project, a team consisting of six language experts and deaf signers, along
with project leaders, worked together to
- map the interactional practices that enable fluent communication in deaf-led
online meetings, - analysed such finely tuned practices in the light of current research findings
on multimodal interaction in online meetings, - create a training method through which such practices can be learned by
people who do not have prior experience in signed interaction.
Four coaches piloted the training method with seven clients. Based on the
feedback, the clients significantly improved their awareness and the practical use of
multimodal resources that can be used to enhance interaction in online meetings.
In our presentation, we will discuss how to improve inclusive company culture and
well-being through implementing communication practices suitable for online
meetings.
