My talk is on strategic communications, especially using the virtual platform in the virtual world, so I think it's ironic that we're doing it in a virtual space. So without further ado, and I hope I don't offend anyone by what I'm going to say because maybe my talk should be the first one in the morning so everybody could gather things together and do it a little, little differently, but here we go. And I hope to keep it at least entertaining for you. So communication, right, we're going to talk about three things here, we're going to talk about when you're in the virtual space it's super important as with anything but probably even more to plan everything well in advance. It's really important in several aspects and we'll go into that. The second thing is, use the virtual platform to your advantage, and we'll talk about a little bit there as well. Don't try to lecture or sell something, and that's probably even more important when you're in the virtual space for several reasons which I'll point out some perils and pitfalls. And then there's generally nine rules that I have suggestions on virtual presentations. So the first one, plan in advance. So what are the advantages here? Well, definitely it's a scheduled time, right, so you know where you're going to be. You're one on one with whoever you're seeing there, and you're in an environment where it can be a dedicated exchange of information or participation there. There's no real competition between you and the person for other avenues and other business opportunities, and it's on your turf, right? You can be wherever you want to be. Maybe that's your home, maybe that's your office, and we'll discuss places but use that to your advantage, right? When you're in the hospital or you're in the clinic, you're on that provider's turf or the medical team member's turf, it's their location, right? It's going to be set about home field advantage. So use what you have and take advantage of that. And it's not just about time, but it's about being prepared, it's about setting up the environment in such a way that's going to behoove you and allow you to really shine through in a format that is a lot of times two dimensional, but it's still, it's an important communication format and tool. And so the disadvantages, right? And so this is what I think a lot of people sort of run the pitfall of. It can be challenging to schedule, right? So you have to get on someone's schedule. And speaking personally, my schedule is jam packed. So it might be more challenging to get FaceTime or to get an actual meeting with a person than sort of hanging out or popping in if the facility or team allows you to do that. The corollary though is once you have that appointment, show up early and crush it, right? Be there, be present minded and use everything to your advantage. Sometimes it can be hard in the virtual format here to really understand what's going on, right? How to understand the culture. It's great. Part of when you go to a place, not only do you meet with the medical team and the members, but you're seeing the daily interactions. You're seeing how everybody works together, how the techs flow in with the endoscopist, in clinic, how the nurses or MAs run things, how the check-in processes. And all these little things help to define the culture, the institution or the environment, as well as the people that are there. And it might be able to tailor, you might be able to then tailor your pitch or what you're doing to try and help overall inpatient care to that culture or that environment. And sometimes that's missed in this digital world. And the corollary to there then is also how can you make a connection with that provider, right? It's really easy if I already know you and you already know me on a virtual format, you know, we hang out, we talk about how our Thanksgiving was, et cetera, et cetera, and then sort of get into the question and answer. But if you're not that familiar or that's not sort of your personality or you're not used to talking to the little green dot that floats on your computer there, it can be really, really challenging. Same thing if you're a new representative, right? If you have to go there and nobody knows you from anything and all of a sudden you're on face with somebody on a screen, it's really hard to build a connection. And so the bar is a little bit higher. And then it's hard to run into several team members all at the same time. Meaning, if an appointment's running late, we've all stood there or you've been in the hallway and, you know, you might not see the person right away that you've been there to either help or service, but you'll see somebody else come by and you'll say hi and you'll strike up conversation. Or someone might read your badge and say, oh, you're from this? Oh, I have this great question. And therefore, you can sort of crush multiple visit activities with sort of being present, physically there and in the middle of things. Harder to do so in a virtual format. So what else could be to your advantage, right? What can you use the platform for? Well, there's no travel, right? We're all sitting either at home or offices right now. And so the farthest you might've had to travel is four feet, which is great, right? It saves on flight time. It saves on drive time, public transport. We've all been there. When you accept to go to a meeting or you're going to see somebody, especially if you're flying, you got to get your car. You got to make sure it has gas. You got to go to the airport. You got to make sure it's parked. You got to walk into the terminal. You got to go through TSA. Pre-check or not, it still takes a while. You got to go to the gate. You're waiting around. The flight's delayed. You get on the flight. Oh my gosh, it's a little bit later than I was supposed to be there. You got to make a call. You get your ride share. Maybe you get a rental car. You go there. You walk into the facility. You got to find where it is. So all these things add up to a huge time sink where you could be doing something differently or maybe even something better. And so the time of a virtual session is not consistent with the live visit. Again, increased efficiency. Not only is it more efficient for you to go and be present minded with the person, but it's also your personal time, right? So you could do other work related activities. You might be able to see several people during a day. Or you might be able to get, quote, home earlier and spend more time either with your family, significant other, loved one, friends, et cetera, there, because you didn't have that sort of wasted time in travel or in moving. Cost. Again, yes, there's the cost of all this monetarily, but it's also the human capital, right? One of the things that keeps coming up now is how much is your time truly worth? Not just monetary, but also the personal aspect, the emotional aspect, as well as the communication abilities there. And being able to dedicate your resources and your brainpower to that next activity, to continue to either promote your device or your pharmaceutical product, or think about who you're going to engage in, or use it to your advantage to research who you're talking to so that you're on a better footing when you're speaking with them. And then, again, it's a dedicated session, right? So I'm engaged in the conversation with you. You're on my schedule. I'm going to talk with you. And so I might have 1,000 other things going on, but for whatever that is, that five minutes, that 10 minutes, that 20 minutes, I'm there with you. So that's an opportunity to really be zoned in and be mindful and present. What else with using the platform? So prepare materials. We all have materials prepared. And I'm not saying prepare like sales materials and everything like that. But if you think that there's a video link, or a PDF, or some sort of news article that can be beneficial, or you want to highlight something, this is a great opportunity to do that. You're not shuffling through a bunch of papers. I don't have time to get a huge folder stacked with things or a bunch of detailed materials. This is a great format to be able to share it, put it in the chat, right? And then I could just save it to my computer. I could download it later, or I could take a look at it, or I'm like, oh, my God, I had no idea that that video was there. And it saves me or the health care member that you're there to see time, which is a huge help. So then I can immediately go to that thing that you're talking about and not have to sort of type in some address or whatnot. You can include a QR code right in your virtual presentation on the corner of your screen that links to something there. So then I can just take my cell phone, snap a picture of it real quick, or go to that site and save it. Boom. So again, using the platform, using the technology to your advantage. If you're on a mobile device, think of it almost as a mini motion picture camera where you can take a tour of a facility or allow someone else to see what's going on. So if I'm there and I'll just give a personal example, we had a product I approved with the patient in advance that it would be OK. And I actually had my nurse use my cell phone as a camera. And we were able to actually look at the device in real time and go through it and work it together, even though they were in Florida and I was in Nashville, Tennessee. And so it was a really great opportunity to be present there virtually with me in a case approved where we could help each other out. And that detail was a perfect augmentation to improving the care of that patient and allowing customer and team satisfaction. And this is exactly it, right? You're able to see the issue. And let's say you might not be able to talk with a bunch of people. This might be a great way to go into, let's say, the cleaning room and look at something that might have broken or might have snapped. And you can actually in real time take that tour and see what's going on. The other thing is the question of in-services. So sometimes it can be harder if you're trying to see a bunch of people together in a format similar to almost like, not to discredit, but like a webinar or something there where you really are either trying to make that one-on-one connection or you're trying to have a discussion with people or have question and answers be taken at a high level so that you can really get into the nuances and details of what's going on. Alternatively, it might be a really good opportunity where you might be able to meet people who don't always have the opportunity to speak in these formats or you might not get to see or meet regularly. And so your ability to communicate with them, them to show you what the actual problem is and cure you might be improved. So bringing an in-service more personal might be an advantage. Don't try to lecture or sell. So, right, this is talking about effective use of time. If you have five minutes of dedicated time, 10 minutes of dedicated time, this is not the sort of time or place to sell, sell, sell, sell, sell. And the reason is, right, I already know your product. We already know what it is. So use it to do something else. If it's going to go on a sales pitch there, I'm going to tell you, and I think in general terms, it's really easy for me to hit mute and do something else, right? It's really easy for me. I have a thousand other things to do, to do, you know, look up something on a patient from earlier or answer an email about an administrative task. So keep engaged, keep there. And the connectivity issue can also be there, right? I'm on a virtual format. I could tell you right now that, oh, my internet connection might be a little slow. Let's redo this at another time. And you might never get that second appointment back. And so really be mindful of these items there, right? It doesn't build a connection. It's not effective there. So what can you do? Again, the provider is already interested in your product, whether it's advice, whether it's a pharmaceutical, whether it's some other product. So allow them to drive what they really want to discuss, right? And what is this? A lot of times it just boils down to customer service, right? I want to know that you're there for me and for my team and for my patients. And so talking us through in that level is really good. I can read the package information. Odds are I've probably read all the papers already if you're being invited in to take a virtual meeting, right? It's not some random thing. But show me, tell me, coach me through how your customer service works and how you, as my representative or as my point of contact, can support what we're doing here. Training, right? Explain how we're going to be able to use this format to train people or show me how we do that. Not just videos online there, but actually, like we said, use your camera. Show me the system virtually there. Use the platform again to your advantage. And then build that partnership, right? Showing that you're engaged in the process, building that collectively is going to be a huge opportunity. Because really, how do we do that in a virtual space? It's not demonstrating that you know everything that's in the pamphlets or the product literature there and you're going to recite it back to the provider or the team member, right? Odds are I've probably read it. And if I know more about the product than you, that's a problem. So fall back on the stuff that's really important, which is helping efficiency, helping the patient, helping to advance care, and really being a member of that team. And that's where this sort of motivation and building a connection can really be powerful in the virtual arena, right? Take that as your advantage and try to understand, I want to know what your motivation is. I know it's to sell things, et cetera, there, but really give me it on another level. And that'll build that connection, that'll build that trust, and you'll have that relationship. So what do we have? The nine rules of virtual presentations. I apologize in advance to anyone on here or my colleagues if you're like, oh, I should have done that. It's a learning environment. We're all trying to go. So maybe I'll say the nine suggestions of presentations. So here we go. Rule number one, use headphones or earbuds for your meeting, right? You want to be able to be heard. You just saw, I pointed to my earbuds. Everybody expects something in your ears now in 2022. Now I realize if somebody watches this 50 years from now, they're going to be like, oh, that was outdated. But seriously, use your earbuds, use headphones. It doesn't do anything but make you sound better and allows other people to hear you. And that improves engagement. Rule two, don't use a virtual background, right? Select the location where the background is real and offers contrast from you and your clothing, right? So you might think that this earth with the shimmer and the shine behind it is like the perfect background. But again, you're in a business meeting. This is a professional environment. It doesn't look good. In the same token, virtual backgrounds can be done really well, but a lot of times they don't. So if you're in a business meeting, you might want to use a virtual background. It doesn't have to be your phone. Even in the best-case scenarios, people around their head and hairline will look like they have a halo or a shadow there. Or if they move real quick, it might block off some of that side and you'll have a white streak around you. Don't sit in a dark room, right? Get adequate illumination there. Don't sit in front of a window with the sun glaring into the camera, right? Do not sit in your bathroom or your clothes closet. While it might be the quietest place in your house with everything that goes on or in your apartment or wherever you're calling from, I would encourage you not to do that. And then wear something that's contrast to what's behind you. So if your wall is striped, if your wall is gray, do not wear a striped shirt in front of a striped wall. Do not wear a gray suit in front of a gray background. You'll blend in. You'll look like a floating head. And those are the things that you want to try to avoid. Rule three, it is a meeting. It is a business meeting. Look professional. Now, I'm not saying you have to die in a tuxedo or a fancy ball gown. That is by nowhere near this. But you want to look like you would look if you were really meeting that person face-to-face one-on-one in an environment where you're either trying to exchange information, communicate, or build a connection. And so look at the virtual space just as an extension of the real world. Make sure also it's a meeting. That what is on camera and what is off camera in the background is also professional. Right? Now, one thing that I always like to tell everyone in these settings and these formats and I tell our fellows as well with virtual interviews and other providers when we go through coaching session is ask yourself the question. Before you get on the setting and you're in your test phase or maybe the day before, look around, set everything up, and ask yourself, will mom, dad, grandma, significant other, or spouse be proud of what's in the background on your camera? And if the answer to that is either, eh, maybe, or no, I would change that up. Rule four, place a lamp either behind you or camera. Illumination is so important in the virtual and digital space. I can't stress that enough. I will tell you right now, I have three different lamps on. I have one right in front of me that's illuminating the face. I have one from the side to hopefully eliminate shadows. And I have one from the back to eliminate shadows there. So you can see where all these cameras are other than you just look great, you're well illuminated, and you can pay attention to what's going on in an easy, well-defined manner. Rule five, head positioning, right? Try your best to put your head so that it's at eye level with your camera or just above that. What that will do is make you appear in the center of the screen for everyone who you're looking at. Now I realize you're probably all staring at me like, does he have it done? It'll position you well. You'll allow to be seeing your face, but it will also allow you to talk with your hands or use your hands for some engagement. Believe it or not, when you're meeting face-to-face with a person, we all move. So do the same thing in the virtual world, right? It makes it seem more real, you're more relatable, you're present there, as opposed to some stagnant video where it's just a head with lips that are talking. Rule six, make eye contact with the camera. So, we've all been there. We've all sort of seen it. When we look down at our screen, I'm doing it right now to look down at my screen to show you, right? It looks like you're not engaged, it looks like you're not present, it looks like you're not enthusiastic about being there. But if you just look up and you focus on that blue dot, that green dot, that red dot that's on the camera, you're going to seem engaged, you're going to seem involved, and you're going to be looking at the person. We all talk about in interviews, make eye contact. The camera is your eye in the virtual space. So use that to your advantage. You're going to appear much, much better. Also, if you look down, I would encourage you to tell the other person, hey, listen, if I look down, just so you know, it's because I'm taking notes. And you can show them your pen, right? Be proactive in this. You can't see what's off screen. So it's better to explain what you're doing than allow the false impression to be made that you're not interested or that you're asleep while somebody's speaking. And again, that goes to looking down at the keyboard as well while you're trying to do it. If I look down at my keyboard right now, it will appear as though I'm falling asleep. And that is not what you want to do. Rule seven, make sure that you check your mobile phone or other items that could be distractions during your meeting, right? When I say this, your cell phone or your mobile should be on, but make sure it's muted or silence. Having dings constantly go off in the background or having text messages come up and you grabbing your device and looking at it and scrolling through doesn't allow you to seem engaged and enthusiastic with the people that you're meeting. And vice versa. You have to have it on. So if the web feed does go down, if my dial up goes down, you'll have an ability to contact that person or know it or switch to your cell phone for your connection. Rule eight, be crisp and concise. Really in the digital space, more important than even live is avoid filler words. Don't use the word um, or hum, or like. Every sentence that you have has one of those words or that's your transition point. It's going to be recognized very, very quickly. And the conversation isn't going to be focused on what you're actually trying to present or do, but it will be focused on sort of the annoyance or the background of those transition filler words. The other item is sit in a stable chair. Don't swing from side to side. If you're in one of the swivel chairs, don't sort of keep this going in the turning session. Don't try to bounce or recline, don't tap your leg, it'll make everything look shaky. And then in the same token, if you're not on a stagnant computer, let's say you're on your iPad or you're on your phone, try to hold your hand as still as possible. And yes, there are certain software, there's camera footage and stuff that can tend to balance those vibrations and shakiness there, but really try your best to use some sort of stand or a stable environment that holds your device or your camera so that everything is smooth. You don't want to make the other person seasick. Have fun, right? Sometimes it's really stressful and hard in an environment where you're trying to accomplish a goal, but have fun and smile. A natural smile, not a creepy smile that comes across as being bizarre, but enjoy the opportunity there to present your material and exchange information and try to build these connections. Make sure your Wi-Fi is reliable. Now, everybody has a degree of grace. So we all know, we've all been there when you're in the middle of that important session or that presentation, the Wi-Fi just cuts out, you're like, ah, I lost you. Could have happened already earlier on my talk. But try to practice, try to make sure you're somewhere where your Wi-Fi is reliable. If it's not at your home, your apartment there, go to work. Take the call from work then. Have your cell phone as backup. Really understand your connection and then make sure that your room is comfortable, right? Again, home field advantage. Set the temperature. It's your spot. Don't have distractions on, right? So don't have the TV on in the background. Don't have sports center on. Lock the doors, you know, make sure that nobody can come in and interrupt. Again, there's grace. We understand that when you're at home, stuff happens, right? Sometimes if you have kids, they'll come into the scene. It's okay, but try to minimize those distractions, those disruptions as best as possible. Again, set the stage, set the tone. Also, make sure if you have roommates or something else there that they're not coming through the background of your screen with like, you know, a bowl of food or something else or in their bathrobe if it's the morning, right? You want to really check your surroundings and make sure that it's controlled. And so to summarize the talk in general, you want to plan in advance. You really want to think about the platform and use that to your advantage. And when I say that, that's not just about the time, but that's doing your background research, checking the internet, looking up, you know, Dr. Kim there and everything that he does so that I'm well prepared to know what he's going to say to me and have a meaningful interaction with him in the limited time that we're given. Don't try to sell or lecture, right? Really be there to support whoever you're speaking with and understand what their needs are and how you guys can partner together. And then try to follow the nine suggestions of presentations as best as possible. So with that, I'm going to leave a summary thought and then I'll ask for questions, comments, and my appreciation to everyone, which is how has the virtual world impacted your relationship with members of either the healthcare team or your own colleagues? And I'll tell you in mine, I think there's been several advantages and disadvantages there as I've explained. One of the advantages is the whole travel time. My efficiency is so much more improved because I can bounce to several meetings in a matter of a morning session and be present there and exchange digital information very quickly with members of the team. I think where it sort of reduces is that personal connection that you have with people. It's much harder to catch up and understand where that other person is either coming from or what's going on and just have casual, meaningful face-to-face interactions. The other thing that I find is challenging in the virtual space, which I think has done better in the live arena, is when you have case discussions or panel discussions together where you can really bounce ideas and get a sense of the room and what's going on to interact with people. It's very hard now for me to see who's asleep, who turned me off, who's not doing that. But if I could see your face and we're engaged together, that's the live opportunity. That really makes things more meaningful and more enriching. And so I think those for me are the two distinctions there. So with that, I'd like to thank everyone. Dr. Kim, thank you for the invitation. Everybody on the ARIA team and everybody at the ASG and you as participants for sticking through and joining me for this talk. So thank you so much. Thanks, Dr. Opstein. Thank you very much for your talk. Very relevant. Thank you for changing the nine rules to nine suggestions because I'm already violating the first two rules. I don't have headphones on and I got a background behind me just for professional. This to me is more professional than the background I have in real life behind me, but I do appreciate the suggestions and I'll use them in the future. While we wait for any questions or comments, one thing I want to ask is, because of the pandemic and because of increased regulation around the hospital, I think it gets harder and harder for industry reps to get into the hospital, get into the clinic, to have face time with the physicians. Do you think that having a virtual meeting can easily replace that? When is it appropriate? When is it not? I do think that there is an opportunity here with the virtual space to interact with industry reps that you wouldn't otherwise because of all the regulations now around industry people in the hospital and the clinics. Yeah, I think that's a very good point and astute observation. I'm going to come from the aspect of once you're approved, right, so if you're on the approved list because you still have to go through all those and follow the rules, I would not recommend using the virtual platform to skirt rules of the institution or the practice that you're trying to get with. Once you're cleared sort of those hurdles, this type of format is very effective at being allowed to sort of come in and not have to worry about all the additional items, finding the office, checking in, getting the proper badge. If you're already certified to be there, whatever that regulation is at that practice, at the ambulatory surgery center, at that institution, this is an easy way to get right in the door and meet with a lot of people very, very quickly, especially if you line it up or if you have an ally there or somebody else. We talked a little bit about potential inservices, right? So one of our nurse manager educators has an iPad and brings you around to everybody that you would need to talk with in a matter of an hour. And so you are engaged, you are there, you are present, and it's easy. And that interaction can be very powerful because you can really meet with people, both on the end that you've never met or seen before, but vice versa, they can meet you or your colleagues. So you had a nurse practitioner who carries an iPad around to the different physicians and care providers? Yeah, we have a nurse educator who, if we have like an in-service on like a product or one of our lead techs, can share their screen and sort of walk it around. We've done that for several different ways, including sometimes for different interviews, et cetera, there, because it just makes everything flow very smoothly. You have one connection, one meeting, and you could jump in on different things, right? We're on mobile platforms. Well, you and I right now might be at our desktop or our laptop, which might not be easy to carry around. If you're on a small portable device, the cameras are so good, and the audio is extremely good, especially if you're using headphones. So you can very easily go and exchange environments or places. Very interesting. Any other questions or comments from the audience on Dr. Opstein's talk? If not, we'll let you go, Dr. Opstein. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Thank you, everyone.

virtual world

planning in advance

customer service

virtual presentations

benefits of virtual meetings

personal connections

healthcare professionals