The skills that are needed in a global workplace for great communication.
How we greet each other.
What’s considered common courtesy.
What’s considered impolite.
How we show respect and disrespect.
What is embarrassing.
What we find humorous.
What is rude humour.
Seating placement in a room.
How closely we stand next to each other.
How we touch each other.
What we eat and how we eat.
The holidays we celebrate.
What we wear.
The division between home and work.
Carly Fiorina, ex Hewlett Packard CEO, was known as one of the most powerful business women in the world. Whatever people think of her decisions in management, she is often called a great speaker.
Listen to her use of voice, and feel the emotional impact of using simple language to talk about complex truths. This is an example of business communication eloquence – a rare thing.
Here is a simple style guide for situations where there is disagreement.
1. De-emotionalise communication.
Use emotion in negotiation situations only when you choose to deliberately.
Emotion is reflected in body language, voice (speed, volume, tone, intonation) and choice of words.
Try to rise above the issue. This is seen as more professional and managerial.
2. Depersonalise communication : Be hard on the problem not on the person.
Avoid personalised language:
Compare:
“You don’t understand the situation and that is why you don’t agree.”
with this version….
“This is a tough situation and I think we should think about that complexity before deciding finally.”
3.Use less absolute, definite language. Be aware of the effect of strong language and use if only if you choose deliberately to do so.
e,g dead end, red line, loosing situation,
e.g Instead of “You are forcing me to reach a dead end.”
You could say, “Taking that approach leaves me little room for options.”
4. Give commentary on the situation that describes the process you see as taking place:
e.g. I understand why you are asking me to come , but there is someone in the marketing team who could help you better in this case .
Adding understanding in this way makes searching for solutions an easier task.
5. Don’t just focus on the short term problem.
See the particular matter under discussion within the context of other negotiations and management interaction over a longer period.
A really good PowerPoint presentation is a hard thing to find.
Doing it the right way is something of an art. See our tips here https://yourfirstclass.wordpress.com/2011/09/08/powerpoint-rules-for-now An interesting alternative is Prezi which is worth looking at for pure creativity. Check it out here http://prezi.com/
Make sure that your slides are not overloaded with information.
Make sure they are readable – font size and right colour.
Make them simple.
Reduce the amount of text on your slides.
Use images – PowerPoint is a visual medium.
Don’t overuse bullet points slides.
Use animation and sound effects very selectively.
Go for more white space.
Create interesting titles for your slides.
Consider when and if to hand out print-outs of your slides.
Remember in slideshow view you can use the B key to get a black screen
and press it again to bring the slide back. The same thing works with the W key
to get a white screen.
Remember:
1. The 20 second rule.
If an audience have not completely understood what the slide is trying to tell them within 20 seconds the slide may need changing!
2.The Squint Test.
If an audience has to squint to read a slide it needs changing.
Handling Difficult Questions
Preparing for questions should be an integral part of preparing the content of your communication preparation. It follows on from the question “What’s on the audience’s minds?”.
In preparing answers for the more difficult questions that you may be asked start from a point of sincerity. In an era of informed audiences only open and honest communication will be successful.
Despite that, some the strategy you choose depends on the situation, the style of questions (friendly, neutral, hostile) and the image you want to convey. You should know all of these techniques so that you can vary your answering style .
Show you understand ( friendly and neutral situations)
Introduce an alternative way of looking at things (friendly, neutral & hostile situations)
In meetings, feed back the question to the audience and let them decide amongst themselves.
Agree and say that the question will be passed on to the right people.
Say that you will check or get an answer from the right person and do that.
Speaking to the media is one of the most counterintuitive things you will ever do. While authenticity is supremely important in the age of Wikileaks, just being yourself is not enough.It is not the objective facts that create people’s viewpoints, but how they are presented.
Relate to what’s on the audience’s mind and how people think.
A media interview is less about a conversation with a reporter and more about talking to the viewer.
Think before you speak. You must always have a point.
Stay on Message.
Think of your appearance as a platform to express your main messages coherently not just to answer questions.
Remember that once you have said something it is out there.
No amount of clarifications and explanation will remove it.
Prepare for all questions – particularly the hard ones.
Cultivate the press and charm the audience.
Know the needs of both of these audiences. Package your information so that it is media-friendly and helps them “feed the beast” with stories which are newsworthy, containing detail and colour.
Pre-empt sensitive situations if you can.
You can then define the issue and have opposition on the defensive.
Think before you act but in the end always act.
You have less than a few hours to respond or Twitter will do it for you. In sensitive situations always respond – otherwise you are causing damage.
Be accessible. Treat every media enquiry as if it were critical.
Don’t dismiss minor league players as unimportant
GRABBERS & ATTENTION UPPERS
This is a list of techniques so you can add interest to your in your one-to many communication. Try sprinkling them throughout your presentations. You should aim for at least one every 2 – 3 minutes.
| PROJECTION OF PERSONALITY |
| CREATION OF RAPPORT |
| DYNAMISM |
| NATURALNESS |
| FOCUS |
| BODY LANGUAGE |
| GENERAL |
| FACIAL EXPRESSION |
| POSTURE |
| EYE CONTACT |
| NO DISTRACTIONS |
| GOOD USE OF GESTURE |
| LANGUAGE |
| FLUENCY |
| ACCURACY |
| STYLE |
| SIMPLE TECHNIQUES e.g repetition, rhetorical questions |
| VOICE |
| DICTION |
| VOLUME/PROJECTION |
| SPEED |
| EMPHASIS |
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