Improve Your Communication

To truly be a great leader you must master the art of communication. Most people are not naturally gifted in this area. With some subtle coaching, you can dramatically improve your communication.

It begins with preparation. If you know you will be speaking in front of group, participating in a meeting, or getting together one-on-one with an important client, it is critical to do your homework ahead of time. Audience analysis is the first step. Put yourself in their shoes. What are their concerns? What solution could you offer that could address those concerns?

Once you have a clear understanding of what your audience is looking for, begin to craft a message that will resonate with them. Write down what you plan to say. Putting it on paper will allow you to wordsmith your delivery and streamline your content. The goal is make your message as clear and direct as possible. Realize that people’s attention span is limited, so eliminate any words that are not critical to making your point.

Flow is also important. If you’ve ever listened to someone tell a story that went nowhere, or took too long to make the point, you understand this. Writing and rehearsing are a huge help here. I was never a particularly good storyteller until I started rehearsing my stories ahead of time. It forced me to think about a logical flow, to stay concise, and get to the point. The result is that my stories are far more interesting. I’ve gotten proficient at making my point and transitioning to where I need to go. Stories also serve as a great way to get the listener’s attention. I would suggest that you begin with a story, get your audience hanging on every word, then transition to your main idea.

Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them. If you want people to remember what you are saying, it’s helpful for them to hear it multiple times. The magic number is three.

After opening with your story, transition to your main idea (tell them what you are going to tell them). Take that main idea and break it into three key points. This sets up the body of the discussion where you tell them. Move through your key points in each of the three sections, remembering to let the listener know where you are by introducing each of your three key points as you get there.

After you finish telling them what you plan to tell them, you move to telling them what you’ve told them. Here you simply summarize your three key points and get to the bottom line. The bottom line ties back to your main idea. You finish by offering next steps–What you want the listener to do.

Assume you are in a corporate environment and would like to hire an additional person for your team. Your audience in this case is your boss, and his boss, who is the head of your business. You do your audience analysis and conclude that they are slow to add new people and hesitant to increase costs. You must convince your bosses to allocate the resources to make it possible.

Begin by telling a story about an opportunity that was missed or an expense that was incurred as a result of not having a competent person in the role you need. Next lay out the main idea. This would be the need for an additional person for your team—tell them what you’re going to tell them. Lay out three reasons why this hire would benefit your organization, then drill down and provide specifics in each area–tell them. Recap the most critical points that you discussed and provide the bottom line of your request—tell them what you told them. Provide a time frame for hiring and training plan for the potential new employee—next steps.

Being a good communicator can have a dramatic impact on your success. If you are the person that takes the time to prepare and deliver a well planned, impactful, message, you will be the one that moves ahead. It begins when you take the step to improve your communication.