Good communication makes good things happen — sales, bold initiatives, focused and enthusiastic teams.
Communication isn’t what you say. It’s what happens in the minds of those who listen. When you understand your audience’s concerns and how they learn and decide, you can connect powerfully and effectively.
Your managers and experts have great ideas that could improve your company’s performance. And your executives would consider them all if they only had time.
Like every company, you’re looking for more efficient and effective ways to make sure front-line perspective informs executive decisions.
Using facilitation tools and practices based on how executives think and make decisions, your managers can learn to present ideas succinctly, facilitate collaboration, and drive commitment. As a result, executives can make better decisions in briefer meetings.
The ego feels compelled to perform and impress, but the best communication happens when you’re willing to be generous. Whatever the context, you can decide to be of service, to help people think together and make good decisions or make meaning. As you become more generous, you feel less anxious and more creative, connected and confident.
You need to increase sales, attract new customers and deepen relationships.
Replace your canned sales pitch with a flexible conversational framework that lets the customer drive and frees you to listen for clues and build a compelling customized value proposition with each prospect.
When you’re genuinely curious about their goals and challenges, when you approach them as partners and really want to help, people will teach you how to sell to them.
To connect powerfully with an audience, you must connect with their values and aspirations.
Before you can inspire an audience you have to let them inspire you.
Put yourself in their shoes. Where are they coming from? Where are they trying to go?
Care about them and what they care about and you’ll know what to say.
Draft your speech aloud, and you’ll be ready to connect conversationally.
If you’re trying to perform and impress, you’ll feel anxious. If you’re willing to share your experience so others can find direction and motivation, you’ll feel generous, helpful and grounded. Your words are important, but more important is your willingness to empathize with the audience and speak intimately with them.
