Does Working from Home Make you a Bad Communicator?

The benefits of working from home are:

• You get to work in the comfort of your own house.
• No more commuting.
• You can wear whatever you want.

The con of working from home is that it hurts your social rhythm.

Great communicators have one thing in common:

• Rhythm.

They have a good compass for their surroundings.

When their conversation partner is talking a lot, they know how to dial it back.

When their conversation partner is quiet; the social person knows how to raise the volume.

To build this compass, you need reps.

Social reps, as I like to call it.

Without the social reps, you get dull.

Exercise the Rhythm

I cohost a podcast called Unapologetic Truths.

Whenever me and my cohost record every 2 weeks, we have great chemistry.

I know when to respond, when to stay quiet, and when to ask follow up questions.

But life gets busy.

Every now and then, our schedules don’t work out.

We don’t record for 2 months.

By the time we meet up after 2 months, we are clunky.

When he’s talking, I’m talking.

When he’s about to wrap up a point, I don’t notice beforehand.

Now there is a long awkward silence…

During the awkward silence, I struggle to think of a question.

The reason everything became clunky is because we didn’t practice.

Without practice, we lose rhythm.

The only way to get that rhythm back is to be consistent with our episodes.

Can You Forget How to Be Social?

You won’t forget to be social.

As long as you can talk, you’re good.

The problem is that you won’t have that smooth delivery.

• You’ll interrupt people a lot.
• You’ll talk while they are talking.
• And the compass will become dull.

When you are working from home, you are by yourself for most of the day.

Let’s say you’re single too.

There’s no spouse distracting you with some conversations throughout the day.

Let’s say you’re introverted too.

You’re not talking to too many people throughout the week.

In this scenario, you may have days to weeks where you don’t talk to anyone in person.

The next time you have a conversation, you’ll feel like there is a weight on your shoulders.

It’s hard to get the words out.

How to Prevent Yourself from Becoming a Bad Communicator

One way to keep your communication muscle strong is to take up a hybrid role.

Where you go into the office every now and then.

Another strategy is to set the intent to have at least 1 face to face communication per week.

Not a face to face zoom call.

But a face-to-face talk in person.

If none of your friends are being social, then strike up a random conversation with the person checking you out at McDonalds.

“Has it been busy today?”

Asking a stranger a question builds your social muscle more than asking a person you know very well a question.

It’s because talking to a stranger about anything makes you uncomfortable.

During that state of discomfort, you will work out your social muscle.

The Future of Working from Home

I’m still a big fan of work from home.

I think the pros definitely outweigh the cons.

But to avoid the cons would be foolish…

The main con of working from home is that it can corrode your social skills overtime.

You won’t even notice!

You’re so happy walking around in your pajamas and logging in that you don’t understand that your social muscle is weakening.

It’s tough to get the social muscle activated again.

I believe we will have work from home in the future.

The main difference is that most people will be proactive about being social.

I’m pretty sure the people who work from home will have a few moments where they went to an event, and everything felt clunky.

They were super anxious.

Then they thought:

“Why am I so nervous today? I’m normally such a sociable person.”

Then they think:

“But when was the last time I was social? I have been working and staying home for the most part… I haven’t had the chance to be talkative.”

When they become conscious of being nervous at a social event, they will feel incentivized to work on their social muscle more.

From there, they will embrace working from home, while focusing on having face to face conversations as well.

Avoid Letting Things Get Clunky

With social skills, you need to keep practicing.

When you don’t practice, things get clunky.

Whether it’s with content creation, public speaking, social skills etc.

Practice!

I have a suits rule:

• Buy 2 high quality suits.
• Accept at least one invitation a year where you have to wear a suit.

Don’t just buy a suit and let it collect dust.

A lot of people will buy a suit, and completely forget about it.

1 day where you wear a suit out of 365 days is definitely possible.

Likewise, have a social rule:

• Have at least one face-to-face conversation a week.

That’s definitely doable.

It can be with a friend or a stranger.

Another option is to join a club.

Thus far, I haven’t talked about a club yet, but in my opinion, joining a club is the easiest path for an adult (who works from home) to be social.

If you have no clue which club to join, try Toastmasters!

Every Tuesday at 7 pm, you know you will see a group of people.

That will keep your social muscle strong.

I’ve had school semesters where I locked myself in a room and studied nonstop.

School and home.

That was it….

By the time the semester was over, I felt like a baby learning to walk for the first time.

I could barely have a conversation without feeling nervous.

If you are not remotely social, then your social muscles will weaken.

You will be clunky with your movements.

Be social.

Once a week, meet others face to face.

For more insights into speaking skills, check out my book Speak Easy

🗣️Ebook

🗣️Paperback/Kindle

🗣️Audiobook

– ArmaniTalks