2020 brought forth a crisis that we have never imagined. This crisis was one of the biggest news in our history. This shocked not hundreds or thousands, but billions of people worldwide. It’s none other than Coronavirus, or more popularly known as, COVID-19.
Millions of lives were affected by the sudden hit of this pandemic. Some loved ones were gone, businesses closed, employees lost their jobs. Then, we were forced to stay at home for months, some for even a year.
Our usual routine drastically changed. Since everyone was forced to stay at home, we had to adapt to the new normal. Unfortunately, that includes our communication.
Communication during the new normal
The “new normal” that we all have to abide by is definitely “not normal”. We shouldn’t be used to wearing face masks and social distancing. But to fight this pandemic, we must learn how to follow this set of rules.
But since we can easily adapt, this did not stop us from establishing communication. But how did the pandemic change our way of communicating with others?
Social distancing and lesser meetups
Because of the social distancing protocol, gone are the usual handshakes and hugs. Even smiling was taken away from us as half of our face is covered by a face mask. Despite that, we can be resourceful by using our eyes and hands to show our expressions from afar.
Aside from social distancing, we cannot meet up with people like we used to. We cannot even celebrate our birthday with the people that we love due to the restrictions in place. But regardless of these restrictions, we always find a way to make things happen. Human beings are interesting as we learn to adapt to any situation.
So the next time that you hold an event, don’t just do it virtually. Be creative and interactive so that your attendees will not feel bored. Remember, adapt!
Zoom and Skype has become our new meeting place
Nowadays, almost everyone has an account with Zoom, Skype, or even both. Because we are usually cooped up inside our homes, Zoom and Skype became our new meeting places. Even when it comes to eating, virtual lunches and dinners have become a thing.
Video chats have become even more popular than before. It became a part of our everyday life and our routine. This is one way that people found to be very helpful during these times, but video chats are not perfect. Network connectivity or even our surrounding can become a cause of miscommunication.
So it is vital that we always ask questions. Why is this important? Asking questions will help us verify if we clearly understand what the speaker is saying. Distractions can also happen at any moment. This is because we are not “physically” present, but we should always try to focus.
Conversations that happen virtually tend to have distracted listeners. But if we are the speaker, we should also make sure to interact with each one of them. Ask questions from time-to-time. Try to call out random people to get their attention. When you do this, this will send an alert to your listeners that they should be more focused.
Everything became virtual
Almost everything has now been virtualized. Virtual classes and virtual meetings became normal during this pandemic. Thus, creating PowerPoint presentations also became normal for us.
Thus, it is important to use free and editable templates for your presentations. There is a fishbone diagram template to visually show cause and effect making effective and clear presentations — thus allowing better communication.
With almost everything being adapted virtually, it is important that we don’t lose our relationships. This is especially true for friends and families that are not living under one roof. Communication is a vital part of our existence as human beings. So it is important that we still make time to talk with our loved ones, even though it’s virtually.
Face masks interrupting our normal conversations
Also because of the “new normal”, face masks have been a normal accessory for us whenever we go outside. We literally cannot live without them. So when outside, communicating with other people becomes a difficult thing to accomplish.
When we wear face masks, our voices usually become unclear. This makes it hard to have a good conversation with other people. So, we refrain from establishing communication and end up doing it virtually. Or worse, nothing at all.
But aside from face masks, social distancing also contributes to this dilemma. We always have to remember and practice keeping at least 6 feet away from the next person. Do you think you can even understand a word that is being said with that kind of setup?
But, these tell us that we should avoid holding a normal conversation with another person. This is especially true when we are outside. This is to prevent the virus from spreading.
Final words
Getting back to normal will still probably take some time. Vaccines may now be available, but that doesn’t mean that the pandemic is over. We should not lax and always exercise caution, especially when we’re outside. This is our way of protecting not only ourselves but also the people around us.
Even though our lives and our way of communicating drastically changed, we should look at the brighter side. Take advantage of this time to learn new ways to adapt.
Social distancing, wearing face masks, and utilizing video chats are essential these times. But once this is all over, we can get back to our usual lives and enjoy face-to-face interaction with others. After all, this is a small sacrifice that we have to do to make the world a safer place again. We don’t want to be the cause of why the pandemic is still thriving, so we should all do our part and follow the “new normal”.