And I’m Sam. When Neil and I record 6 Minute English face-to-face in the BBC Learning English studio which, I am happy to say, we are doing right now, we look at each other as we speak. We smile and use hand gestures and facial expressions in a type of communication called body language.
我是山姆。当 Neil 和我在 BBC Learning English 演播室面对面录制六分钟英语时，我很高兴地说，我们现在正在做，我们在说话时看着对方。我们微笑并使用手势和面部表情进行一种称为肢体语言的交流。
Neil(尼尔)
But during the Covid pandemic, everyday meetings with work colleagues, teachers and friends, and 6 Minute English recording - all moved online.
Video meetings using software like Zoom and Skype became the normal way to communicate with family and friends. And whatever happens with Covid in the future, it seems they’re here to stay.
But before that, I have a question for you, Sam, and it’s about Erica Dhawan. She may be a communications expert now, but growing up in Pennsylvania she was a shy and quiet schoolgirl. So how did Erica beat her shyness and become the confident communicator she is today? Did she: a) attend public speaking classes?; b) copy the body language of the cool kids at school? or, c) raised her hand to answer the teacher’s questions, even if she didn’t know the answer?
I’ll guess that c – she raised her hand to answer the teacher’s questions.
我猜是c —— 她举手回答老师的问题。
Neil(尼尔)
OK, Sam. We’ll reveal the correct answer later in the programme.
好的，山姆。我们将在节目的后面揭晓正确答案。
Sam(山姆)
In face-to-face meetings, we immediately see someone’s reaction to what we’ve said through eye contact, where two people look into each other’s eyes as they talk.
在面对面的会议中，我们通过眼神交流立即看到某人对我们所说的话的反应，两个人在交谈时看着对方的眼睛。
Neil(尼尔)
Unfortunately, using a web camera to make eye contact is almost impossible in online meetings and this often creates a kind of ‘distancing’ effect.
不幸的是，在在线会议中，使用网络摄像头进行眼神交流几乎是不可能的，这通常会产生一种“距离”效果。
Sam(山姆)
Erica Dhawan makes several suggestions to help with this. See if you can hear the final suggestion she makes to Michael Rosen as part of BBC Radio 4’s Word of Mouth.
埃里卡·达万提出了一些建议来帮助解决这个问题。看看你是否能听到她对迈克尔·罗森的最终建议，作为BBC Radio 4的口碑的一部分。
Erica Dhawan(埃里卡·达万)
And last but not least, slow down. Remember when it was completely normal to have a one-minute pause in a room with one another because we knew when we’re thinking and brainstorming. If we don’t hear someone speak on video, we ask them if they’re on mute. Practise what I call the five-second rule – wait five seconds before speaking to make sure that individuals have time to process the ideas, especially if there may be technology or accessibility issues.
Yes, she recommends slowing down, something we do naturally face-to-face when we’re thinking or brainstorming – that’s discussing suggestions with a group of people to come up with new ideas or to solve problems.
Slowing down gives us time to process new information – to understand it by thinking carefully and reflecting on it.
放慢脚步让我们有时间处理新信息 —— 通过仔细思考和反思来理解它。
Neil(尼尔)
Erica compares online body language to learning a new language - it takes practice, especially when it comes to smiling and laughing, something Michael Rosen finds hard to do in video meetings.
Erica 将在线肢体语言比作学习一门新语言 —— 这需要练习，尤其是在微笑和大笑方面，这是 Michael Rosen 发现在视频会议中很难做到的。
Sam(山姆)
Listen to him discussing this problem with Erica Dhawan for BBC Radio 4’s, Word of Mouth.
听他与 Erica Dhawan 讨论这个问题 BBC Radio 4's Word of Mouth.
Michael Rosen(迈克尔·罗森)
Do you think it’s killing off people laughing and smiling in the way we do when we’re altogether in the live situation?
你认为它会像我们完全处于现场时那样杀死人们的笑声和微笑吗？
Erica Dhawan(埃里卡·达万)
I would say that it is much less likely that we laugh and smile on camera for a few reasons. Number one, laughing is often done in unison where we can quickly pick up the energy of someone smiling or laughing and feed off of that and laugh ourselves. When it comes to screen delays, the fact that it’s not natural to see our own camera – being distracted by that – we are much less likely to laugh and smile. One of the ways we can overcome this is by creating intentional moments in our meetings for the water cooler effect.
Erica points out that laughing often happens in unison – together and at the same time.
艾丽卡指出，笑经常是齐声发生的 —— 一起和同时发生。
Neil(尼尔)
Yes, if someone starts laughing it makes me laugh too.
是的，如果有人开始笑，我也会笑。
Sam(山姆)
She also thinks it’s important to make time for employees to chat informally about things unrelated to work – their weekend plans or last night’s TV show.
And she uses the expression, the water cooler effect which comes from the United States where office workers sometimes meet at the water fountain to chat.
她用了来自美国的饮水机效应，上班族有时会在饮水机前聊天。
Sam(山姆)
So, the water cooler effect refers to informal conversations that people have in their office or workplace, maybe in the lift, the office kitchen or, if there is one, by an actual water cooler.
Erica Dhawan seems very comfortable communicating online, but she’s had lots of time to practice since her schooldays.
Erica Dhawan 似乎很自在地在网上交流，但从学生时代起，她就有很多时间练习。
Sam(山姆)
Ah yes, Neil, in your quiz question you asked how Erica conquered her shyness at school. I guessed that she raised her hand to answer the teacher’s questions.
It was a good guess, Sam, but the correct answer is b – she copied the body language of her cool teenage classmates, so probably lots of rolled eyes and slouching!
山姆，这是一个很好的猜测，但正确答案是 b —— 她模仿了她很酷的十几岁同学的肢体语言，所以可能有很多翻白眼和无精打采！
Sam(山姆)
OK, let’s recap the vocabulary from this programme about online body language – non-verbal ways of communicating using the body.
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