What is the Key to a Successful Existence in Business and Life…Communication
Effective communication is a term we hear often especially within the world of business. In pretty much every job description, there is a request for someone with good communication skills. Most business trainings have components pertaining to having effective communication skills or an entire training topic is on effective communication. At one point or another, most individuals in leadership roles have attended trainings that have consisted of communicating effectively with their teams. There are many communication trainings and team building trainings, books, videos and courses all centered around how to properly communicate with both internal and external stakeholders.
Effective communication skills are not only essential on a daily basis for a business/professional, but also extremely important in our personal lives when dealing with spouses, partners, children, extended family and friends. People have built entire careers around providing counseling, therapy and writing books to help individuals become better at sharing their feelings and communicating with those around them. Likewise, many careers have been built around fixing the situations that arise when communication has been poor, lackluster or totally nonexistent.
Additionally, in today's world of technology where the preferred methods of communication is often through text or email messages, intent and inflection can often be misconstrued. When we are behind a screen unless there is a concerted effort to ensure clear communication, the message can go awry and be the catalyst to chaos and unrest. Extra care must be used to create clear messaging when typing your tone or intent.
Fundamentally, efficient and clear communication is an essential piece to your professional and personal development, and ultimate success. When communicating with others, you have to ensure that you are creating a message that the recipient(s) are able to hear, understand and that their response elicits what you were conveying to them. Part of being an impressive communicator is knowing how to deliver the message. Just because you are talking and you know what you are saying does not mean that the recipient understands what you said, what you want, or need from them.
As you may know, effective communication involves such things as speaking clearly, enunciating properly, and having a good tone so that your listener can hear you. However, effective communication does not lend itself only to speaking, there are a host of other attributes that makes someone a good communicator. To be a good communicator, you must be a good listener. You must listen to what is being told to you and/or asked of you. You must look at your audience's body language to see if they are engaged and understand what is being said. You must be able to redirect the conversation if it goes off track or you’ve lost their attention. You must be empathetic to the audience and what they may be dealing with, struggling with or how they are absorbing what you are sharing with them. Most importantly, you must be confident not only in what you are saying by displaying confident body language, but also in your knowledge of the subject matter. Speaking in a low tone with your arms crossed while you stare at the floor does not shout out subject matter authority or knowledge expert. To capture your audience of one or one thousand, you must speak clearly, knowledgeably, make eye contact, stand tall, carefully watch and be at tentative to your audience, so that you can astutely manage the conversation.
Lastly, remember when communicating with someone one on one, in small groups or presenting to a large group at a meeting or a conference, always approach the audience from a positive place. As the authority figure, subject matter expert or the key presenter, you may feel confident and strong in your knowledge level and expertise. Confidence is a good thing. It helps the audience feel comfortable with you and establishes credibility with them. You must ensure that your confidence does not turn into arrogance. People respect confident people, want to learn from and mimic them. No one wants to deal with arrogant people. A successful communicator is one in which the audience walks away more knowledgeable, content and willing to work collaboratively with you again.
For more information on Communication Trainings, Coaching, or if you would like to book us to speak at your next meeting, conference or team building activity, please contact us at hiveconnex@gmail.com, or visit our website at www.hiveconnex.com.