but the ability to actually communicate and be heard and allow someone else to recognize whatever you're going through and help you and assist you through that. That is truly the biggest gift you can give someone virtually that I think matters most. This is your Badass Dreni podcast. I am Terrine Walsh, serial entrepreneur, growth strategist, executive leadership coach and best-selling author.
Each week I will bring you a guest or a thought that will help you align what you love with what you do in order to build that Badass Life and business you dream of. Hey listeners, welcome to today's episode, direct to you. I so appreciate you joining me today. I am still on the mend, but feeling really good and energized and loved my conversation with Lauren Donahue the last episode, 141 if you haven't listened to it.
Yes, I think you'll appreciate it. I wanted to dive a little bit deeper into the question she had on her work life and what she feels as her zone of genius was really bringing people together for retreats, large events, et cetera. And she's been navigating and had to do a pivot obviously in 2020 on how to do things virtually. So she asked me a really great question that I know some of you listening have had that same question.
How do I go from a business that was reliant on in-person interaction and create the same experience and connection virtually? So that's what we're gonna talk about today. But before we do that, I'm gonna share the clip from that episode so you understand some of the tips that I gave her live and that call. And then we're gonna dive in a little deeper for you to have the tips, tools and methods in order to do this for yourself and really create the virtual experience that represents the items and feelings you want your audience and your community to walk away with.
So here you go, listen to this segment and I will see you on the other side and we're gonna dive in a little deeper. I would say with kind of the pivot, I was doing all in-person events leading up to this last year and I went virtual. So my superpowers connecting with people in person. So what's the way that I can still really connect with people virtually and still call in the same amount of people that I was getting for in-person events?
Because that was easy. Like we would sell those out. It hasn't been as easy for the virtual to get people because I think what they want is to be with you and they wanna hug you, they wanna be with you. And so how can you kind of create that same type of connection virtually?
Yeah, I love this question. Cause I think, you know, as we're entering 2021, we're gonna stay in a virtual state of being at least through probably Q3 of this year from not being able to have massive events or like large group events. I do think that we can coordinate smaller intimate events and you just have to be really clear on your protocols for not getting COVID. And for those of you listening, my voice sounds like this because I'm on the tail end getting through attracting it into my life and healing from it, right?
Like it still can happen. It can take that one moment. So I love that you're in the virtual space trying to create it and trying to figure out like how can you create more of a connection virtually? Some of the things that I've seen work really well is when you're thoughtful prior to the start of something.
So because you're constantly doing things in a container, right? Like you have a start and an end date to how you bring groups together and what you want them to walk away with and what you want them to continue to connect with like as a group, figuring out the experiences that you can allow each individual to have at home but is also in common with everybody in your group. So for example, I was talking because I'm planning an event in person. I was gonna do virtual as well.
And so I have an event person that I work with that helps me coordinate everything. And she's like, there's this person that can actually like mix drinks. Like he's this master bartender and we can get all the people in your remote group like the ingredients, right? And you, so let's say for you, it's like a healthy juice starter in the morning or something where you get the ingredients to the group and then they're all making it online together.
Like you're all in your Zoom room and you all are in the kitchen and you're all just making it together and you're trying it out. And there's this experience that you're creating that has a connection that has elevated how you've actually come together virtually but you've created a common experience through that type of facilitation. So thinking about like if you have a journaling element to yours, so making sure that everyone has that same exact journal, like you're shipping and you love snail mail. So this wouldn't be hard for you to come up with like a packet.
Like for example, for your Gold Gator program, something every month going out to your group because it's a 12 month accountability that keeps them in line with something in common as a community. And so whether it's the same water bottle and like how much water they drink and so the water challenge or if it's a journal and go through these pages and hear the questions is how you create elevated experience. Still to this day, the deepest way I think I've connected with people is in those one on one interactions. So even though you have a massive following and there's gonna be a big group that will probably come into your programming, still think about how can you create those intimate moments virtually.
Whether it's breakout rooms in Zoom or you're doing pairs and everyone's creating a connection and talking through a deeper conversation but create those conversations versus always talking at your community. I think that's the biggest disconnect I've seen and why everyone kept having Zoom fatigue from last year is that when they were interacting or going on, it wasn't about them joining. They didn't have their moment. They didn't feel like they mattered.
They were potentially just being spoken to, talk at and not engaged with. So I think in virtual land, we have to really think about how do we engage deeper and connect in that way as if we are in person, just we can't maybe touch or feel each other but then send them something that they can touch and feel that will make them think about you and know that you are warm and fuzzy. You know? It's like, does that help?
So helpful. I love that because you're creating that human experience even though it's virtual, something that they can hold where they're having that common. It's like we're all eating this meal together, right? They were sent like from Primal Kitchen if they were all sent frozen meal.
All right, warm up your meal. Let's have lunch together. Break out into like a bunch of rooms and things like that. I love that.
Yeah, that was really helpful. So she just loved Lauren's energy. Yeah, so we dove in, didn't we? We shared a few tips on how to really create a virtual experience that is meaningful, that leaves the person on the other side of that screen feeling as if they were seen, feeling as if they upgraded, got some sort of outcome from the time you had together and also felt like they were not in a virtual event but really in a connected experience.
So how can you do that? How can you do that for what you're trying to offer in this year? And it really applies to any type of virtual connecting. So there's so many things now.
I mean, snail mail has not gone away. You can get things in front of people prior to meeting. You just have to plan a little bit better upfront. And so that's step number one, truly, is to, A, define the container that you are trying to create from a virtual method.
So regardless of the fact that you're going to be online together, what is the container, the experience you want people to walk away with after spending this time with you? I say the biggest gap from 2020 is that there wasn't much of an expertise in facilitation. We were all pushed into meeting virtually or going to these virtual events, hoping for the connection that we desired and probably attended a lot of meetings. I know I did where it fell short, where it meant to be a gathering of connection and you probably felt like you were being talked at the whole time or that there were only a few people in that space that really were engaging with each other, but there wasn't a real mastery on facilitation.
And I would say that is the biggest differentiator when you're trying to launch something. So when you think about the container, you're bringing people in and you design that container, then you have to ask the question, who do I need to be or who do I need in the room with me to facilitate that energy that I want people leaving with once they're in this container with me? So like we talked about with Lauren and the fact that she's in health and wellness and mindset and doing this collaboration with Leslie, they're going to be designing this 12 month container together. Well, with that, they have to step back and say, okay, if we're in this for 12 months and we want to make sure that people who come into our container are leaving with XYZ energy.
So we want them to feel like they are seeing heard and they matter, for example. We want them to feel uplifted. We want them to have an experience that makes them feel joy, makes them feel connected to self, makes them feel connected to our community. And you're defining that container.
So to find what you want them to feel, experience, et cetera, then you're going to ask yourself, well, how do we make that happen that is authentic to us and our brand and how we would make them feel if they were in the room with us? All this is a different medium. And yeah, you cannot replace the touch of somebody else, right? Like the ability to hug, I'm a huge hugger and I miss that a lot, but you can't replace that.
You can however create the emotional connection in a virtual manner by doing some simple things. But when you take the time to design the container, design how you want these people to walk away and leave, what do you want them to leave with from the time you do have together virtually, you need to figure out what that end result is, that true desire is to then ask yourself, what are all the different ways that we can make this happen? How can we make this happen? Because the how will always be figured out, right?
So now you've designed the container, you've really determined how you want people to walk away from this container, what you want them to feel, what you want them to know, what you want them to believe about themselves and how you want them to be connected. And then you go ahead and break down all the different ways you can make that happen. So ask yourself, how can we make that happen? How can we make that happen?
Does it mean that you are now sending something out to this group every month because it's a 12 month program, what do you want them to receive? Are there themes of the program that are going to allow you to create something and give them something physical before you meet virtually that may be best executed when you are virtually together? So I shared with Lauren, you know, an example of like journal prompting. So do you send out a journal at the beginning that actually has prompts in it every single month?
And then when you're on your call together, everyone's taking the moment to journal together and then going out into breakout rooms and being able to share it more intimately with a smaller subset of the group or even if it's a larger group, how you as a facilitator are reaching out to them to connect and learn. Are you creating the space to remove obstacles and really talk through the things that matter that help them in that moment? How are you facilitating the actual session is what matters as well? But if you don't take the time to design it upfront before execution, then you're missing the opportunity to create a deeper connection with who's on the other side and showing up on your screen.
We are still humans behind the screen. So ask yourself, how can you create more of a human connection and you might need to do a little bit more upfront work to make that happen and create the experience that matters to your community, your group. This also applies to any of you who are leaders and corporations and trying to figure out that the fact that you've been months virtually working with your teams and are feeling a little bit of a disconnect of what's really going on with your team. What I recommend for you, if you do not have the skillset to facilitate more of a deeper connection, is to bring someone in and have them facilitate it for you and be the beacon that allows the connection to happen, the new wave of energy into your group and have someone else do it for you.
So many services are popping up that are assisting groups with building better connection today that it is something that I personally enjoy if you want me to come in and work with your group and facilitate a session of connection, happy to do it, I love doing these sort of things and making sure that your team dynamic is continuing to grow in a healthy way. So whether you're someone who has a business running virtual events that used to be in person or you're a leader that's trying to make sure that your remote teams are performing at their best and that you're building stronger connections around your team, design the container, you want everyone to show up in and kick off the explanation of that container with consistency, feeding that container so that everyone continues to grow together and feels connected, not only to you as a facilitator or the leader of this container, but also to each other if that is what you're hoping for on the other side of all that effort. It is so possible to make somebody else feel seen, feel loved, feel like they matter, feel connected virtually. You just need to make sure you have the skills and the ability to either call in and enlist the help or upgrade your own skills set to make it more connected.
It is so possible. I'm someone that has lived and moved and really have focused on distance relationships and how to create connection. Yes, sometimes receiving something in the mail is creates an ignited energy, but the ability to actually communicate and be heard and allow someone else to recognize whatever you're going through and help you and assist you through that. That is truly the biggest gift you can give someone virtually that I think matters most.
And it is the number one way I have built my relationships is in this energy of facilitating virtually. So if any of you have any questions on this topic, if you feel like you want to dive in more into it, do not hesitate to reach out to me, you can always email me at hello at careenewalls.com or you can DM me on insta or LinkedIn. You guys know how to find me by now. If you're a new listener, welcome, go ahead and hit that subscribe button so that you can get the ongoing podcasts and tips, tools and methods that I love to share on the show.
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