---
title: What makes someone a good Zoom talker?  - The Hustle
description: BetterUp analyzed 1.6k+ Zoom conversations to find out how we interact over video and what we like in a conversation partner.
image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/949172906-final_size-peoplezooming_20230501231517.webp
---

# What makes someone a good Zoom talker?

![Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) [Juliet Bennett Rylah Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/JBRylah)

Published:  May 02, 2023

Updated:  October 11, 2023

At this point, we’re all *very* familiar with video meetings and the concept of “[Zoom fatigue](https://thehustle.co/01282022-zoom-fatigue/).” But research suggests we may like video chatting — at least with intense strangers.

![talking on Zoom](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/949172906-final_size-peoplezooming_20230501231517.webp?width=595&height=400&name=949172906-final_size-peoplezooming_20230501231517.webp)

Online coaching platform BetterUp launched a behavioral research lab in [2018](https://www.betterup.com/press/betterup-launches-groundbreaking-lab-pioneer-research-human-performance-flourishing-workplace).

It’s since created a massive [database](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adf3197) of Zoom conversations, called CANDOR (Conversation: A Naturalistic Dataset of Online Recordings), to analyze how we interact over Zoom and what makes someone a good conversationalist, [per](https://www.businessinsider.com/largest-zoom-conversation-database-science-interact-video-chat-2023-4) *Business Insider*.

#### **How they did it**

US-based participants, ages 18-65, had 1.6k+ conversations with randomly paired strangers. They were instructed to chat about anything for ~30 minutes, then review their partner.

Conversations were recorded and analyzed for things like loudness, nonverbal gestures, and “semantic novelty” (in this case, introducing something new to the conversation).

#### **So, who Zooms best?**

The highest-rated conversationalists had a few things in common. They:

- **Spoke ~3% faster **— that’s about six additional words per minute.
- **Varied their volume,** possibly because they were adjusting to the room.
- **Nodded** and shook their heads more often, signaling appropriate responses and attentiveness.
- **Mixed it up, but not too much.** They knew how to stay on topic, but also introduced more subject changes.
- **Were more “intense,”** exhibiting more emotion.

#### **It may not be that surprising…**

… that the most dynamic and engaged people scored highest, but this might be: Across all groups, people reported feeling happier after their conversations, especially those ages 50-69.

Conversations took place between [January and November 2020](https://www.betterup.com/research/candor-research), coinciding with pandemic lockdowns — a great time to virtually connect with a friendly stranger.

**Bonus findings: **Older speakers took longer speaking turns when paired with younger partners, and women were more vocally expressive with one another.

Topics: [Zoom](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/zoom)

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