How to become a great communicator

Presenter / Picture courtesy of Flickr user ImagineCup

When it comes to your career, there's no way to overstate the importance of your ability to communicate. It doesn't matter if you're in engineering, finance, HR, marketing, manufacturing or IT. If you hope to get anywhere in life, you've got to be able to present your ideas in a way that connects with people.

As a kid, I was famously talkative and well read. Unfortunately, that didn't translate into the working world, not even a little. Early in my career, my writing was so bad that my first manager said I was illiterate. and the very thought of presenting paralyzed me with fear. Also, I had a tendency to open my mouth before my brain was engaged.

How did I overcome those gigantic hurdles? Well, I had a passion for marketing and sales, which required dramatic, across-the-board improvement if I wanted to get anywhere at all in my career. Now I'm sort of known for how I communicate, which I find more than a little ironic.

But hey, it wasn't easy, that's for sure. I guess that's the first lesson. If you want to get ahead, you've got to be driven to succeed and work hard to overcome your limitations. That said, here are some critical tips on organizing your thoughts, writing, speaking and presenting:

1. Organizing your thoughts

You may not believe this, but you can pretty much break down almost any business communication of any kind -- conversation, meeting, presentation, email, anything -- into these simple steps:

Know your audience. Everything starts with comprehending who your audience is or who you're communicating with.

Know your point of view. What's your point of view or opinion and what's your goal in presenting it?

Know your supporting points. What are your data or talking points to support that point of view and how do you plan to achieve your goal?

Be prepared to be challenged. What challenges to your position are most likely to come up and how will you respond? We also call that Q&A.

2. Writing

After learning to organize your thoughts, the first step in becoming an accomplished business writer is to read. No, I'm not talking about blogs, news stories, tweets and texts. I'm talking about books, and not the self-help or popular variety, either. You need to read literature and lots of it. Why? Because it'll inspire you and you'll learn different styles and methods by osmosis, whether you realize it or not.

You should also take some business-writing classes or get some tutoring. The goal is to learn how to present your ideas in writing as concisely, conversationally and forcefully as possible. You'll learn all sorts of tips on how to keep your writing crisp, expressive and memorable. In other words, it's nothing like what they taught you in school.

Also, buy yourself a copy of "The Elements of Style" by Strunk and White. Read it a few times and refer to it constantly. It's pretty much the bible for any writer.

3. Speaking

The biggest difference between written and verbal communication is that, in the case of the latter, you're in real-time, meaning whatever comes out of your mouth can't be put back in. So it's important to be centered and in the right frame of mind.

Before any important conversation or meeting, take a moment to have a little chat with yourself about whom you're meeting with, the type of meeting, and what your demeanor and approach will be. After a little preparation, just try to be as relaxed as possible during the discussion or meeting. Be yourself; that always works best.

That said, you should be aware of your emotional state. Not to say that you should attempt to hide your emotions. That depends on the situation. But you need to at least be aware of your own state of mind. The reason is simple. More people screw up by opening their big mouths than any other way. Really.

And for God's sake, listen. Don't just fake it while you're thinking of the next thing to say. Learning to listen carefully is the key to successful verbal communication because you already know what you think. It's what they think that you need to find out.

4. Presenting

Connecting with an audience, communicating your vision and passion for a subject, can be a beautiful experience. It's also a rare opportunity to make an impression that might impact your future. It can either be a gateway or a roadblock to professional growth. Which one is entirely up to you.

Now, engaging your audience as a presenter is nothing like speaking one on one or in a small group or meeting. Sure, there are common elements like knowing your audience and organizing your thoughts. But there are some big differences, too. For one thing, you get to prepare, so more is expected of you. Also, all eyes are on you, something many people find discomforting if not downright frightening.

Unfortunately, most of us aren't born with the presentation gene. I have no idea why, but for most professionals, presenting is a real struggle, even after they get comfortable standing up in front of a room full of people. Fortunately, I've been professionally trained and I've written three informative posts that will teach you all the basics of becoming a great presenter:

How to give a killer presentation
How to be a great storyteller and win over any audience
Conquering your fear of public speaking

[KareAnderson]

Great universal tips. In a connected world the most vital communication is connective and conversational, inviting others in, adding concrete value and being responsive, so here are further tips:

1. Speak to the sweet spot of strongest, shared interests
2. Communicate in a You, Me Us fashion -- from the beginning
3. Prove you've heard what the other person(s) said
4. Keep a connective thread to the conversation
5. When presenting, make it meaningfully interactive
6. Praise the actions of others you admire, shining a spot light on as many people as you can

http://www.sayitbetter.com/coaching.php

[[e-mail]]

Steve,

All great ideas on becoming a great communicator. I would add another point to bring it all together: Practice! Practice! Practice!

[ajwmedia]

Happily and sadly I will be doing a key note speech this upcoming Thursday, so good see this...

[aharrell3000]

This article hits close to home for me since I "Public Speak" for a living. I would say whether you're communicating verbally or written there should be a level of enthusiasm and passion on what you're trying to communicate. The listener or viewer is normally attracted to enthusiasm/passion and I almost forgot one "Humility". Transparency works in communication as long as it's sincere, honest, and has integrity.

[BFNZ]

I speak the Queen's English and I say full point.

[Nick Petricevich]

You've missed out really crucial items:

A) What you have mentioned is only "Broadcasting". For something to be "Communication", it needs to be Received > Acknowledged > Understood > Reaction/Response Received. Communication is now achieved as the loop has been completed.

With that in mind, there should have been a point 5 of "Being a good listener, reader or watcher".

B) In point 1 another key item is missed. What is the right medium for the message you are about to convey?

One shouldn't announce a restructure as a notice on a bulletin board without any follow on events (meetings, feedback sessions, presentations, etc). Neither should one jump on a PA having a rant about people who don't clean up after themselves in the workplace kitchen. Getting the medium right is just as paramount as the message itself.

C) Proofreading, Practicing and Preparation. The last thing you want to do is get the message a tad askew, or even worse, completely wrong. You'll lose your audience. Once an audience is lost, it is sometime hard to reel them back in.

Case and point, second paragraph of your article.

"...my first manager said I was illiterate. and the very thought of presenting paralyzed me with..."

The words "illustrate", "and" and the fullstop draw my attention.

A sentence shouldn't start with a conjunction,
If the sentence does, the first letter of any word at the beginning of a sentence needs to be capitalised,
...or is that fullstop not supposed to be there at all?

When sending a message on getting a message right, you might want to get your message right.

Just sayin' :)

Nick Petricevich
@nickpetricevich

[christensen143]

When criticizing someone about their writing skills you may want to pay better attention to what they are writing. Case and point:

"The words 'illustrate', 'and' and the fullstop draw my attention."

He did not say "illustrate" he say "illiterate". Second, it is "full stop" and not "fullstop" in proper usage. Plus, if you are going to be well understood you may want to use the common English usage of full stop which is simply "period".

It is a slippery slope criticizing others work. If you have something good to say, something helpful, go for it. If you are being a snob I'd avoid it. Your message will get clogged up with your ego.

Just sayin' :)

Chris Christensen
@christensen143

[jomass11]

Nick...you missed point #6. How to be correctly perceived as an a$$hole; looks like you've mastered that one.
Oh and by the way.....it's spelled "capitalized" not capitalised. But you knew that.