Tuesday Tips

When people want to improve how they communicate, they often think of the usual list of options – attend a course, get a coach, ask people for feedback, and so on.

And all these can work very well.

But there’s an even easier way for you to be a better communicator. And here’s all you have to do…

Think about when you delivered your most impressive communication.

For example, when you nailed a job interview. Or successfully asked for a pay rise. Or won a major new customer.

And think back to what you did for that critical communication. I imagine it was some/all of:

• Dressed to impress
• Arrived early, so you were in good time
• Thought about what the audience wanted to know, and tailored your content to that
• If possible, contacted your audience upfront, to ask what they were interested in
• Did other research into the audience, into their competitors, what they were likely to be interested in, worried about, etc
• Created your content early
• Continually refined it, so it was as good as could be
• Worked hard to find ways to be interesting, and to keep them engaged throughout
• Did lots of practice
• Rehearsed your opening, so you knew you’d be making a great first impression
• Thought about all your experiences, and identified the ones that would be most relevant to this audience…
• …and turned these experiences into compelling stories
• Practised telling these stories, so they flowed naturally
• Prepared good questions, so you could initiate a good conversation
• Prepared answers to questions they’d be likely to ask you…
• …especially the ones you felt least comfortable with
• Made sure all your surrounding communications – the email before, the follow-up afterwards etc – were of a consistently excellent standard
• And so on

And, I imagine that – when you did all these things – your communication went really well.

So, the easiest way for you to be a better communicator every day?

Do all these things every day.

And that’s it.

For example, with your weekly update meeting, which of this list do you do? (In my experience, the “how to make it interesting” often goes missing!)

Or in your monthly 121 with your boss/team member, how many of these bullet points do you use then?

Or when you’re preparing a report or presentation for someone, what about then?

The secret to consistent excellence is to be excellent consistently.

You know what makes a great communicator.

You’ve seen yourself be one.

You’ll be communicating a lot today. How good are you going to be?

Action Point

It’s easy to get into bad habits, and forget to do things we know we should be doing.

So review the bullet points above, and identify 1-2 things you should do more often, to make you better

And then do them.