Communication is everything
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Learning to communicate effectively is no easy task but mastering the skill will pay off in spades. Being an engaging and authentic speaker, and an interested and compassionate listener, is critical to success in both our personal and professional lives. Whether you are speaking with employees, presenting to customers or even imparting life’s lessons to your kids, effective communication is the key.
Some people are natural-born communicators while others find it a real challenge. In both cases, the recent migration from in-person to virtual interactions has brought a whole new set of challenges to the world of communications. Whether you’ve been blessed with the gift of gab or struggle to articulately convey a thought, there are a few important things to remember as you strive to be the best communicator you can be. Here are a few tips I’ve gathered over my thirty years as a television journalist. If you follow these tips, I’m confident they will help make you a better communicator:
Make Sure You Feel Your Most Powerful. Before you can command the attention of an entire room (real or virtual), or even the attention of one person, you have to feel confident in yourself. This may mean sticking to a morning routine to ease anxiety, doing some exercise or breath work to calm the mind or wearing a color in which you feel most attractive, powerful and capable. Watching yourself on a screen all day is unusual, and this self-reflection can easily lead to feelings of insecurity and doubt, negatively affecting your ability to communicate effectively. Fend off these feelings from the start by positioning your body and mind for success.
Offer a Virtual Handshake. Body language conveys a lot about a person and can set the tone of a meeting right from the start. These days, however, talking through computer screens limits us to only a partial body view, and we need to make some adjustments to communicate more effectively. This is where the “virtual handshake” comes in. Find ways to set the tone through your computer screen. Perhaps that means opening the meeting with a kind sentiment, displaying photos on a desk behind you that contribute to your story or adjusting your posture to convey the style of the meeting – upright for a more formal vibe or slightly reclined and relaxed for a softer tone. Perhaps lean closer to the screen while emphatically making a point and settle back when listening.
Stay Focused on Your Purpose. As a communicator, you must stay in control of the message and not allow nerves or other distractions to take away from your story. In general, we women tend to struggle with this a bit more than men. A man may see an audience member on his phone and think “I’m doing such a great job presenting that they’re already tweeting about me.” It’s been shown that women more often succumb to insecurities and may instead think “I’m just not connecting with my audience.” Trust in the process and remember WHY you are there; that will instill confidence in your delivery and your message will be conveyed most effectively.
Be a Good Listener. Writer Christopher Morley once said, “There is only one rule for being a good talker – learn to listen.” This is such an important part of effective communication. Audiences are more engaged, and therefore more receptive, if they are part of the conversation. The best communicators don’t just talk about themselves; they ask about and empathize with their audience. I’ve had the privilege of interviewing almost every president in recent history and the two best communicators were Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Both men were affable, facilitated a two-way conversation and made it clear that they were genuinely listening. Remember, we have two ears and only one mouth for a reason.
Communication is most certainly an art and not a science. And in the virtual world of Zooms, Google Meets and Microsoft Teams, the art is ever changing. There isn’t one handbook to follow and what works for one person may not work for another. There are, however, a few common threads that run throughout the practice of effective communication. Understanding these ideas and attempting to put them into practice is a great starting point on your path to becoming a great communicator.
