workshops work 084 - Beyond Zoom: Behind the Scenes of Toasty, a new video conferencing tool with Kevon Cheung
Online meetings have risen in popularity since the COVID-19 outbreak, but they must cover more than ticking boxes from the agenda list. Creating stronger bonds and giving people that human connection they’ve lost from in-person meetings is so important. After all, we’re all in this together. The more we can be there for each other, the better.
Kevon Cheung is the Co-Founder and CEO of Toasty.ai, a new video conferencing tool that simplifies the process of meeting facilitation so that participants can express and collaborate freely. I was so happy to have him join me in this episode of workshops work because I wanted to know how Toasty works and how it combines facilitation exercises with a shared Google drive, amongst other things.
I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. I hope it helps you see how you can bring the human element back into your meetings, conferences, and workshops.
In this episode, find out about:
- How and why Kevon launched Toasty.ai
- How to change the dynamics of an online meeting
- What Toasty is and how facilitators can use it to create engaging meetings
- Why participants need to open up and how to make people feel comfortable to do so
- How to stop participants from getting distracted
- Why you must have a plan but also the freedom to adjust according to the flow of the session
- How to stimulate a group’s creativity using fun exercises
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Questions and Answers
[01:45] Would you call yourself a facilitator
[05:08] What is the hashtag you would give yourself?
[07:30] How did you come up with the idea of putting a new video conferencing tool out there?
[09:34] What changes the dynamic of a meeting?
[11:33] What have you learned from your conversations with facilitators?
[14:53] How do you minimise the awkward feeling of when the first participants join the call?
[16:10] How did you change your own team meetings since learning about the art of facilitation?
[20:40] What has been the most surprising thing that happened in one of these calls?
[23:44] What would you recommend to someone who still hosts these boring meetings where they talk a lot, and feel frustrated at the end?
[26:09] Why do you think it takes longer in the virtual space than in the physical?
[27:31] How can you decide whether you're overdoing it and then it feels awkward, or whether you’re reluctant because of habit?
[29:54] What are the biggest challenges when translating solutions to problems to the software?
[32:50] Why did it take so long to have more competitors to platforms like Zoom?
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