10 Ways to Connect Deeply While On Zoom

I’ve got good news and bad news for you. First, the bad news. Covid-19 is now fully out of control and the vaccine’s effect won’t be improving how we live for about another six months. That means we will still need to use Zoom to connect with friends and family for quite a while. Yet, I’m here to offer you some good news. It is possible — if you know the right methods — to connect very deeply with friends and family over Zoom. In fact, it’s even feasible for your connections to be even better over Zoom than in person. Yet, without the right methods, “Zooming” with friends and family can be downright depressing and unfulfilling, so it’s important to learn this valuable skill.

I first recognized the value of creating deep contact on Zoom when several of my High School friends organized a “Zoom get together.” Unfortunately, I was not in charge of how this Zoom call would go. What happened is that my friends spent most of their time interrupting each other and talking about the weather and Covid. Not only was the conversation superficial, it felt disjointed, rambling, and unfulfilling. My High School friends and I have not spoken to each other since. The whole thing was a bust.

Up till this Zoom call with my High School friends, I had immensely enjoyed connecting with friends and family over Zoom. On these calls, people would often tell me at the end of our calls, “That was the…