Have difficulty being concise?

Three groups of people have difficulty being concise. Do these sound like anyone you know?

The first group is those who are nervous about speaking to those in authority, or calling in to a talk show or a tele-seminar. Sometimes radio reporters also have difficulty with this, rephrasing their questions twice or more when interviewing guests.

The second group is those who are inductive thinkers. Inductive thinkers present all the facts or ideas and then express the main idea or request. People who are not inductive thinkers are deductive thinkers.)

The third group of people are those who haven't thought through what they mean to say, and just ramble. Sometimes they use stream-of-consciousness techniques of basically saying whatever they are thinking, with no obvious means of connecting the thoughts.

If a supervisor who is deductive has an employee who is an inductive thinker, there will be problems and frustration unless one of them changes. If it is the employee ( inductive thinker) who is to change, he or she needs to start thinking of the main point or "executive summary", and then add one solitary short sentence, starting the most vital fact or reason. If the supervisor wants more, he will ask.

This is difficult for inductive thinkers to do. Practice thinking this way, and even write down the summary statement and the reason statement ahead of time. Practice these two sentences until they sound great!

If the person gets nervous speaking to an authority figure or when calling in to a tele-seminar or radio talk show, write down your 2-3 sentences ahead of time. Your audience's time is short; make every second count!

Some people think best out loud, and need to practice doing this privately. Possibly recording their words would help them to then record a summary statement.

In all 3 cases, find someone who is a concise speaker, and emulate him or her!

Customer service: voice of the organization

Do your front line staff know that, to the public, they are the voice and face of the organization? Do they have the communication skills expertise to showcase your company in the most positive manner?

In an interesting interaction, a visitor to a recreation facility stopped an employee and gently and tactfully made a suggestion. "Have you ever considered having more trash cans [at a certain location in the facility]?" she asked. She explained what she had witnessed with the trash situation. The employee then stated emphatically that more trash cans would not help but that she hoped the [departing] visitor would educate the other visitors near her when they littered. The visitor, sensing the employee was very irritated, then complimented the employee on how nice the facility in general was looking, and the employee smiled slightly.

Afterwards, the visitor realized that, despite the suggestion box near (with no suggestion forms in sight), the employee did not think visitor suggestions were of value to the facility - even when the suggestions could make her job easier. The employee was basically telling the visitor that she didn't want to hear anything but praise.

A better way for the employee to have reacted would have been to write down the idea and say she would take it to her boss, sounding as if she valued the idea. The employee could then have asked which sections of the facility the visitor enjoyed most, or a similar question to keep the visitor focused on the best parts of her visit. This would not have taken long, and would have ended the visitor's stay in a very positive way.

Think about your front line staff. How do you want them to view customer suggestions - as something positive for the organization, or as a nuisance?

If you value customer suggestions, how do you let your staff and/or the customers know this?
Do you act on the suggestions and let the staff and customers know,  reward them or take other actions? Please share your ideas!

Business Speech Improvement offers intensive coaching and also an e-book on communication strategies for leadership development. Poor communication is so expensive; learn practical strategies for improving your skills!

Do you struggle to understand others with strongly accented speech on the telephone?

Do you answer telephones a lot at work and have trouble understanding people who have strong regional or foreign accents? Maybe you ask them to repeat themselves several times, and still can't understand, such as this Scottish man in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My40XgYEvLM. Or maybe the person at the other end has a hearing loss, and can't understand YOU! There are more effective methods you can use to get better results in many cases. A new pre-recorded webinar, Pardon Moi:The Art of Effective Listening, explains the problem and offers concrete strategies to improve comprehension on the telephone. One strategy is to ask people to repeat themselves - ONE time. Try these other techniques and see the difference! Frustrated prospects often don't buy. You can't afford that. Get this pre-recorded webinar and see the difference that professional telephone strategies make! Business Speech Improvement provides intensive coaching and products to help people communicate more effectively. Great speech makes business sense!

Leadership development and executive communication

This year, reportedly 40% of American workers are planning to leave their jobs, often because they dislike how their boss treats them. Are you one of them? Such a "brain drain" has dire effects on a company's profits, as it can be expensive to recruit, hire and train a new worker. In addition, the productivity of new workers is usually lower for a while. A smart solution would be to spend time, effort and funds on training supervisors to be more effective communicators. For many supervisors, a simple e-book just released, called "Executive Communication Strategies" would provide many strategies they could use. This concise new e-book offers many easy tips. Special ones include a list of questions smart leaders use when considering new ideas, professional listening strategies, conflict resolution suggestions, explanations of why many people do not speak at meetings (and what a wise leader could do about this), and even tips on how to let employees know you appreciate them. (After all, how did you feel the last time your manager told you what a great job you were doing? (If your manager has never told you this, do you want your employees to feel as unappreciated as you feel?) The basics of training strategies for adults, improving communication at meetings and much more are included. "Executive Communication Strategies" could be included in a leadership development seminar, an MBA course on leadership, or in private Mastermind groups to share new techniques. Great communication matters! Business Speech Improvement provides intensive coaching and e-books on many aspects of communication. Visit us today!

When a friend at work has bad news Recently someone asked me when he should do upon hearing a friend from work had some bad personal news. He and his friend were both in the USA. (Customs may be different in other cultures.) His dilemma was that he didn't want to disturb his friend, but did want his friend to know he was thinking of him and was available to help if needed. His friend had taken some time off to deal with the situation. I suggested he text, e-mail or call him friend and let him know he was concerned. He should ask what he could do to be of help, such as doing some driving for the friend, bringing over some food, running some errands or whatever else was needed. When the friend returns to work, he could take him out to lunch or just bring him up to date on events at work. What is usually done in this situation where you work? What is appropriate in other countries, too? Share your ideas!