So in recent weeks, I’ve hosted or moderated virtual webinars, panel discussions and happy hours with people all across the world (separate from the countless virtual one-on-ones and small group meetings that have become such a mainstay for us all now).

I approached these events with some trepidation, unsure of the how the back and forth that’s necessary would happen in the virtual world, given the normal back and forth of in-person conversation (versus the sequential nature of videoconference technology) or the pronounced nature of (awkward) silence in such settings, especially ones where not everyone knows each other.