In this lesson, you will learn about how to build connections with others, through backchanneling and co-presence.
0:01 - Building connections through co-presence and backchanneling.
0:07 Hello, everyone.
0:09 Today's topic is backchanneling which you may notice me abbreviate as "BC."
0:19 Backchanneling connects us as we share our emotions and responses to one another as we interact.
0:30 During communication, backchanneling lets us know how our messages are received so that we don't feel like we're speaking into a void.
0:40 We all want to know how others respond when communicating and we share this information with each other through co-presence and backchanneling.
0:52 When the listener has their hand resting on their own leg. instead of the leg of the speaker, the speaker doesn't feel any reciprocal engagement from them.
1:00 This hinders communication and makes the speaker unable to express themselves.
1:05 Once the listener's hand is connected, the speaker knows the conversation is reciprocal.
1:11 This allows them to open up because they feel the feedback loop from the listener's backchanneling.
1:16 The speaker can feel through the listener's hand how they are cognitively and emotionally registering the conversation.
1:24 Sighted people rely on visual cues to determine if a person is daydreaming or is paying attention and engaged.
1:30 We get the same information through backchanneling and co-presence.
1:34 When the listeners hand and body disconnects, it cuts the speaker off from receiving the listener's responses.
1:40 This causes the speaker to check in repeatedly as they anxiously try to get a bearing on the listener's emotional response to the conversation.
1:46 But if the conversation partner stays connected with the hand on the leg, for example, this channel opens up and the speaker is at ease.
1:52 In the absence of co-presence and backchanneling, we feel disconnected.
1:56 This might lead to anxiety, tension, or a need for continual reassurance.
2:00 By participating in co-presence and backchanneling, we can share language and experiences together.
2:06 Sharing backchanneling cues while being physically disconnected from one another doesn't work either.
2:12 Because this disconnection puts distance between the speaker and the listener, much like a hearing person might feel distance when trying to talk with someone in another room.
2:25 When we are physically connected and sharing backchanneling, two people can fully feel each other's presence and attune to one another.
2:33 For example, I can feel whether a person is tense or relaxed through this physical connection and they can feel me the same way.
2:41 A hand gives explicit communicated responses through backchanneling while the connection between our bodies unites us in co-presence.
