An interview with Dr. Glenn Hallam, a psychologist who developed the wahi and continues to contribute to Wahi Media productions.
Wahi started with an observation from public speaking. I found that an audience will attend much more closely to the information and enjoy the speech more if I stop and ask questions. I'll give the audience a situation and ask them if they've ever been in that situation and then I'll call on individual audience members to share their stories. It makes what I'm about to say more relevant and it causes people to reflect on the information, to listen actively. So the basic observation is that people more actively process information if they're required to reflect upon how the information is personally relevant to them.
Educators and social psychologists have known this for a long time, so the observation isn't really new, but you’d be surprised how many speakers just talk at their audiences without really interacting with them. And most video doesn’t really engage the audience. One reason ads on TV have become so entertaining is that they are trying to hold your attention and they can't use the normal way of doing so, which would be stopping and asking you questions, truly engaging you as a human being.
Well, good communicators are always looking for immediate audience feedback, for confirmation as well as direction. But in my research, I had made another observation -- that we needed a better way to collect information from people, a more engaging, more interesting, less boring way to learn about their thoughts, opinions, attitudes, motivations etc.
We began on two fronts. The first was the design and construction of a software platform that would allow us to focus on the creative aspects of writing and crafting a conversation. I didn’t want computer programming to get in the way of real progress in developing the medium of the wahi. We needed to focus on creating storyline, selecting and coaching actors, for example , rather than programming the conversation. We wanted the technology to be transparent so we could focus on the more important matters of delivering high-quality information while learning about the audience. We've been very lucky in having a very talented team in the creation of this platform over the last two years, and this platform continues to become even more powerful.
A second front was the exploration of ways to craft automated conversations that felt comfortable and natural to the audience. We wanted the audience member to feel respected. We wanted them to feel like they were engaged in a real conversation, not with a computer, but with a real human being. So we explored questions such as, how do speakers develop rapport with an individual over time? How do they gradually develop trust so that the respondent will feel comfortable sharing information, so the person will listen to the speaker and stay engaged in the message?
We’re wired for it. People have been having one-on-one conversations with each other for hundreds of thousands of years. We take a little while to get to know each other, but then we can dive deeply into an interesting conversation. And at that point we’re more willing to share information with each other.
We’re also willing to spend time in conversation. One of the most exciting findings so far is that by using a wahi we can hold the attention of an audience member for 8-10 minutes. That's not true of a normal website, where people are often jumping around on the site and then leaving quickly. We can hold attention. Which should be no a surprise because we can sit and talk for hours with another person if we’re interested in this person and the topic we’re discussing.
Because people are wired for conversation, we have to be careful and deliberate in how we craft a wahi. Humans are sensitive to subtle psychological cues, such as eye contact and body position. We're sensitive to the pace of the conversation. We're sensitive to the appropriateness of questions that are asked. We’re sensitive to the race, gender, appearance, even the confidence level of the speaker. And in this day and age, people have short attention spans on the web. They can click away at any time. So we need know how to keep a connection with people on an emotional level – to engage their hearts as well as their minds. This is what makes the production process both challenging and fascinating.
We're combining psychology and the latest technology in a uniquely human way. We’re creating true human interaction. You're not just interacting with text on the page. Not just interacting with images. You’re not playing a game. You're actually interacting with a human being. Yes that human being is delivered by video, but it doesn't feel that way. It feels real and personal.
Wahi Media was formerly known as Mega-Fi, Inc. More info here.