Archive for Communication
Do you recall a recent interaction you may have either been a part of or witnessed, where one person was clearly communicating some information and the audience clearly did not understand what was being said? The speaking person, sooner or later, realizes from the puzzled looks or the questions being asked, that the message was not being understood. So the speaker starts again and says the same exact words, just more slowly and louder. Does this work? Does this method ever work? Of course not!
What is going wrong? It has been written in Harvard Business Review, “The number one criteria for advancement and promotion for professionals is an ability to communicate effectively.”
John C. Maxwell said, “It’s not enough just to work hard. It’s not enough to do a great job. To be successful, you need to learn how to really communicate with others.”
Before you assume this has nothing to do with you, my suggestion is to conduct a reality check for yourself.
The next time you are either giving some type of instructions, or speaking to pass on some information of importance, ask the listeners to repeat to you what they heard. Do not warn them beforehand that you will be asking them to do this or you will negate the test. They will listen closer and be more aware of your words.
The results of this little test may provide some insight for you. This will be across your life from the board room, to the charity committee you sit on, to the eight year olds on your Little League team.
Now that we are all in agreement, this may happen to any of us and it does. What do we do?
This is the topic of an entire course, Effective Communication.
Here are a few easy ways to begin your walk down the path of communicating and connecting more effectively.
- Become a great listener
- Ask excellent questions
- Understand what is important to your listeners
- Speak about areas important to you which match your listeners
- Based upon the above items, create a relationship with your listeners
These are not meant to be easy and quick solutions. You will need to put in the time and practice. With all tips and techniques which are intended to create positive change the habit of utilizing the techniques must be created.
Each of these when utilized and practiced will bring forward results that will be obvious to you and your listeners, especially if the people are the same people who you have previously spoken to. Now you will be speaking with them and they will notice the difference.
If you and your company, group or organization is ready to take your communication to the next level, contact Mitch Tublin specifically for his workshop on “Everyone Communicates, Few Connect” info@thementorguy.com.
Image: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
In your line of work or any line of work, communication skills are absolutely critical to success. We learn at a fairly young age to hold back a bit and not say certain words or phrases even though they are at the tip of our tongue at a specific moment.
Have you seen the news clip on Mark Halperin the news reporter from MSNBC? He was speaking about President Obama.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/58098.html
Okay, so maybe Mark Halperin was prodded along a little. No one expected what happened next.
What about you in your business, public speaking or working with your clients?
Are you open and totally and fully saying everything that comes to mind?
Where do you draw the line?
Let’s get the discussion going below.
Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Representative Anthony Weiner is absolutely certain he did not tweet the underwear photo.
Ask the majority of Americans if they feel the people who hold a political office are authentic.
What do you think their answer will be? Now every story has another side.
Let’s explore another side.
- What do you think the majority of people would say about people who conduct business and sell on the internet?
- Would you think these people would say most people who conduct business and sell on the internet are authentic?
- Are you authentic?
- How do you let people know you are authentic in your online business?
Regular subscribers who have chosen to opt in see great articles, are given free templates, free checklists and more on a regular basis. Possibly the best part is they are not pestered and bothered by never ending marketing emails, just given great content and quality information. Here is a sample from this last week: http://www.thementorguy.com/ezine/May31-2011.html
Overheard a conversation this morning in the health club locker room. There is a regular group of plus 70 year olds who meet most days and walk, chat and then go out to breakfast. One of the guys was commenting how he recalled saying to his Dad once that he did not realize his name wasn’t ‘blockhead’ until he was twelve years old. Okay a few generations ago as he is pushing 80 so we are speaking about 70 years ago.
This story brought to mind the subject of how do we speak to others? How do we speak with our family members, co-workers, clients, customers, etc?
What is your story? How do you find people speak with you?
