Leadership development: Effective Meeting Management

Your supervisor tells you to be at a meeting. It's a discussion, but several people in the group do all the talking.  The rest of the group is silent. The meeting leader does not appear to notice this.  What is the impact of this on the group, and on the bottom line?

First, some meetings are to share important news, not to discuss matters. That's fine - if it only happens rarely. (Sharing news can also be done by e-mail.)

Second, a leader who allows many people to sit silently during discussions may not know why there is so little participation, what the cost of this is, and strategies to change this.

People are quiet for various reasons. Among them is a lack of interest in the topic, a lack of new information to share because the topic is ancillary to their job (and they may not be appropriate attendees), a fear of speaking in public (and a group to these people is considered to be speaking in public), hearing loss and a lack of certainty as to what was just discussed, or other reasons.

The cost to the company of minimal participation is considerable.  There is a Cost of Meeting Clock, which determines the cost based on the number of attendees, average hourly pay rate, and length of the meeting. This determines the entire financial cost of the meeting. However, think about the amount of work that is not getting done because of the meeting, and the boredom factor of attendees who want to be anywhere but in that meeting. In addition, helpful information is not being shared among the attendees.

According to a new Gallup study, 50% of employees leave because of their supervisor. Often this has to do with poor leadership communication skills. Employee turnover is extremely expensive to a company, involving recruiting and training costs, as well.

What can a leader do to be more effective in eliciting participation at meetings? The solution depends on the problem's cause, of course.  To start, look at the reason for the meeting, and determine if the meeting needs to actually be held, or if an e-mail would be sufficient. Which participants really need to attend? Do they know in advance what to bring or prepare to talk about?

Does the leader know how to control participation by encouraging quiet people to talk, and talkative people to give others a chance to contribute? 

Techniques to resolve these issues  with meetings can be found on pages 10 - 11 of  the e-book, Executive Communication Strategies. On other pages, you'll  learn about Customer Services/Persuasion, Decision Making Paradigm, Questions Leaders Should Consider, Professional Listening Skills, Public Speaking Techniques for Leaders, and more! Get Executive Communication Strategies now and find out the practical, easy-to-use strategies to improve your communication skills!

Giving a Presentation? How to Improve Your Eye Contact

According to one survey, more adult Americans fear giving a speech more than dying. Some show their fear by their inability to make eye contact with their audiences during the presentation. They look down at their notes, or up at the ceiling, instead.

Poor eye contact in the American culture conveys a lack of openness, of connection. The audience looks at the speaker, and the speaker looks elsewhere. The audience wonders why, and the message loses value quickly.

The audience wants the speaker to succeed; who wants to sit through another awful speech? Practice your presentation enough so that you are not reading it. (Can you give it if the technology and lighting failed?) Try choosing a few friendly faces throughout the audience and looking briefly at each one. If that is too hard for you, look slightly above their eyes at the tops of their heads, and be sure to look around the room when doing this. While it is not quite as good as looking at their eyes, it is better than not looking at them at all. 

For more tips on public speaking, from writing to delivering powerful speeches, get the e-book "Public Speaking: You Can Do It!" by Business Speech Improvement.

   

Public speaking: Worried about answering difficult questions after a presentation?

Many would-be public speakers are hesitant to give a speech because they are afraid that they will not be able to answer a difficult question posed afterwards by a member of the audience. They do not want to "lose face" before an audience.

If this is your concern, here are some strategies you can use. First, when preparing your speech, consider the special interests of a given audience, and anticipate what questions they might have. For example, if you are speaking to an audience of lawyers on land use practices in your community, search online for "legal aspects of land use + (name of the community)". Possibly interview an expert on the subject in the state or county government ahead of time. Credit him or her in your remarks, by saying "as X, an expert in Y, says, ..."Write down the answers and practice giving them in a simulated talk.

Always repeat the question into the microphone before answering it. Depending on the acoustics of the auditorium, the noise level inside and outside of it, and the hearing acuity of the audience, there is a very good chance that the question was not clearly heard by everyone. Repeating the question also gives you time to think about the answer.

Let's say the worst happens, and an audience member asks you a question that you did not anticipate. Here you have three great options, and one back one.

First, explain you would be happy to look into this question and get back to the person quickly with the answer.  Invite the questioner to come up to you afterwards and give you his business card with the question written on the back of it. Another option is to say to the audience, "Is there anyone in the room who has expertise in this particular aspect of the topic?" A third option is to focus on the part of the question you can answer, and acknowledge that you need to do more research on the rest of the question. (Some politicians ignore most of the question, segueing into one of their talking points instead. "The important aspect of this is that..." Alert members of the media and the rest of the audience usually notice this ploy and comment negatively on it later.)

A speaker cannot be expected to be expert on every aspect of a topic, especially if it is only vaguely related to the main aspect of the talk. Use the strategies above and confidently step up to the microphone!

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive coaching in public speaking, accent modification, pronunciation, executive communication strategies and more. Coaching is available online in selected cases. 
For those who prefer e-books, our concise e-book Public Speaking:You Can Do It!. is available 24/7. It has practical tips that can be used immediately.

Delegating: Tips to Do It Right

A mother was shopping in a supermarket with her two young children. She told her little boy to "behave". The child said earnestly, "I be good, Mommy!"

Then he went back to chasing his sister, and the mother scolded him. He apparently did not know what exact behaviors she expected.

In a corporate setting, when a manager warns his new employee to do a "excellent" job on a task, does she know what his idea of "excellent" is?

For example, does it mean proof-reading a document twice (and having someone else do it once), using certain photos, including the details on the new project, or some other expectations?

As a leader, it is your job to make your expectations very clear. Your employees cannot mind-read. If you make your requests clear, you have a greater chance of having them be achieved.

Delegation is part of many leaders' jobs. Clear delegation includes not only the details to be accomplished, but also the time-frame. The leader needs to understand how often he must check with each person on his team to answer questions and make sure the work is being done correctly.

If the task is important enough to be done, it should be done right. A good leader delegates the right task to the right person, with a clear explanation and time-frame.

Business Speech Improvement offers an e-book on Executive Communication Strategies, with techniques on 18 vital areas of communication. It's the book you'll wish your boss had read! Learn more about this powerful e-book now!

Nervous about Speaking in Departmental Meetings?

Many people report that they are nervous about speaking in departmental meetings. They are concerned that their ideas will not be accepted, or worse,  ignored and then presented again by another member of the group who takes credit for them. As a result, they are quiet when in fact they may have a valuable contribution to make to the discussion.

If you are one of the "silent ones", here are 3 strategies for speaking up at meetings.

1. Rehearse your comments ahead of time. Use a brief "executive summary" approach. State your main point or recommendation, and then the reasons for it in just a few sentences.  For those of you who are used to giving reasons or details first and then getting to the main point, this "executive summary" may be difficult at first to do. Writing it down first may make it easier.

2. Notice which of the people you plan to meet with is highly regarded by others. Present your idea to this person ahead of time and ask for feedback and improvements. Then present this idea to the group, being careful not to say it is "my" idea. Hopefully the other person will then offer support to your idea.

3. Communication cultures between companies and managers can vary. Some are more formal, while others may be more relaxed.  Use the approach prevalent in your company or department. If in doubt about the best approach, or if you are new to the company, choose a more formal one.

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive, customized communication coaching. Presentation skills coaching is available as a full day seminar for individuals and groups. Coaching for experienced speakers who want practice before a specific presentation is also available, and may be done online in many cases.

Business Communication: 3 Tips to Improve Communication with Your Boss

Do you wish communication with your boss was easier? It can be, with surprisingly little effort on your part.

In honor of Better Hearing and Speech Month, here are three tips to help you improve your communication skills.

First, observe your boss carefully the next time you see him or her talking to someone else. Does he or she express the main point first, and then give the details or reasons, or are the reasons/details given first, leading up to the main point? The first method, called deductive reasoning, is more common than the second, called inductive reasoning.

When you talk to your boss, use the same method (deductive or inductive) as he uses - with a difference. Instead of giving a lot of details, give a one sentence "executive summary" with one sentence of the most relevant detail or recommendation.

Second, note how quickly and enthusiastically your supervisor speaks, generally. If he speaks in a slow, low-key way, try to imitate that when you speak to him, when possible.

Third, notice what else seems important to him. For example, it might be timeliness, from arriving on time to planning ahead for an event. Maybe he prefers that people who bring him problems also suggest solutions. Whatever it is, try to do it. If you don't know what he likes, see if you can determine why he praises certain people's work or actions.

Business Speech Improvement provides individual speech coaching. An e-book on communication strategies in 18 crucial areas for leadership is also available. Great speech makes business sense!