The Power of Communication: Is Poor Communication a Reality?

Of all the skills critical in business, the ability to communicate is the most valuable. Being able to effectively inform, influence, and most importantly, to convince others is a very special skill.

If communication skills are so essential to success, why is the standard of communication we experience in our everyday business lives of such a mixed quality? Let’s think for a moment about the quality of communication we observe daily in business. We all know people who are well informed and intelligent, yet who struggle to communicate effectively. I know of an executive who, about to present to the board in the act of setting up his PC and data-show equipment was asked to “Please turn that off and just talk to us”. Apparently the executive was so unsettled by the request to talk rather than present that his halting dialogue impressed no one! How often do we go to team or department meetings to hear a boring and monotonous delivery by someone who makes the same presentation the same way at every meeting, with only the numbers changing? How often do we hear a customer or a supplier ask a question which is a wonderful opportunity to inform, influence or convince? In these situations we too often see the challenge of an impromptu situation overcome the opportunity to communicate. Presenting Versus Communicating The key to improving our communication skills is to move the emphasis from presenting to one of communicating. Presenting is a term that evokes several aspects in my mind. It infers one talker, and one or more listeners. Presenting also brings to mind words like ‘formal’, ‘prepared’, ‘speeches’ or ‘pitches’. Communicating on the other hand is about the delivery and receipt of intended messages, and successfully done this leads to the objective of the communication being reached. Good communication involves both parties, and typically requires interaction to explore and clarify the ideas being discussed. Next time … Good presentations are examples of good communication, yet good communication is about far more than good presentations. Think On Your Feet ® is a terrific 2-day workshop that will give you dynamic structures to strategically position your message giving you the spit and polish your delivery deserves. It really is the art of impromptu speaking. [traininglist slug=”think-on-your-feet-2-days”]    ]]>