If you’ve ever observed someone and said to yourself “wow they’re a great communicator”….. or “wow they really know how lead a good meeting.” That person did not likely get there by accident. Nor did they just develop those skills by feel. Highly effective communicators are leveraging a finite yet powerful set of principles that they’ve learned, practiced, and habituated. You can do the same.
What all these successful people have in common is that they inspire confidence, deliver ideas clearly and memorably, engage listeners, and handle interactions seamlessly.
Develop These Key Skills:
Cultivate interaction when needed. Listen effectively. Deal with interruptions. Maintain engagement. Handle difficult questions. Keep conversations positive and forward-moving.
Project confidence, build credibility, address nervousness, and manage distractions through skillful use of eye contact, posture, gestures, movement, voice, pausing and rhythm, etc.
Organize clear, succinct, listener focused messages, designed for impact and persuasiveness. Use memory hooks for retention of key information.
Incorporate diverse listener input. Adjust content and approach to match various technical levels and demographics.
Design and use effective visuals. Relate skillfully to physical elements such as laptops, notes, handouts, and whiteboards.
Apply best practices for web meetings, seated or informal presentations, demos, technical training, or teleconferences.
Create Lasting Behavior Change: