The research that will help you not suck at digital communication

Few things in life are as fraught as how we communicate, whether it is anxiously picking the right words to scribble in a Valentine’s Day card or agonising over how to ask your boss an awkward question. And that is before you even get into the murkier realm of digital communication and the newfound perils of, shudder, “hybrid meetings”.

Andrew Brodsky knows these challenges better than most. Based at the University of Texas at Austin, he is a specialist in workplace technology and communication. His own circumstances meant face-to-face exchanges weren’t always possible in his teens, and this led him to study virtual interactions. When the covid-19 pandemic came along and we were all forced onto platforms such as Zoom and Teams, his insights became invaluable.

Brodsky has now studied the virtual communication of more than 100,000 people, and his findings have led to a book, Ping: The secrets of successful virtual communication. Leveraging his research and insights from others in the field, Brodsky unlocks the secrets that can help us succeed in our personal lives and careers – as well as giving some pointers on obvious pitfalls. Should that meeting have been an email? How close do you have to be to someone before you send them a voice note? Brodsky has the answers.

Chris Stokel-Walker: Communicating digitally is something we all have to do, but what was it that led you to look at this so closely?

Andrew Brodsky: One of the things that was very impactful in my life is that I’m a cancer…