Great communications skills are essential for business and personal success.
It's time to drive audience members, co-workers, collaborators, and innovators to action and inspire them to change.
Becoming a great communicator takes just two things: a smart game plan and a lot of practice. "Communicate to Influence" is the first step to reaching those goals.
Think of the meetings and conference calls you attended in the last month.
· How many of those meetings were necessary?
· How many of those meetings were frustrating?
· How many times did you think, "Why am I here?"
· Did you leave with a clear plan?
· Did you think an email could have sufficed to deliver the salient points?
· Why are so many of these meetings so bad?
It's time to move from information to influence. We must shift along the horizontal axis from self-centred content to audience-centred content. This is the missing co-ordinate that we need if we are to shift our communication to action and take the opportunity to change something. Change the way people think or act about your initiative, idea, product, service and process. Moving from information to influence will hopefully land your experience toward an emotional connection.
When it comes to planning a message, talk or directive, frame your message. The cornerstones to keep your thoughts focused include:
1. Frame your message around the listeners. Make it about them.
2. Get focused with a clear "point of view." Find the lead of your story.
3. Tell them what to do. Make it concrete.
4. What's in it for them? Make them care.
At the centre of it all is the most important component: the listener.
I have to pick one thing to say. Only one. I must find the lead of my story. It's knowing my punch line, my ending, knowing that everything I’m saying, from the first sentence to the last, is leading to a singular goal.
My "audience profile" is the perfect way to find my "point of view." I need to start where my listeners are, and give them a reason to come with me. Remember, my goal is not merely to "inform" but to cause a shift in thinking within my listeners from the beginning to the end of my talk.
A "point of view" is designed to persuade my listeners and move them to action.
Reference: Ben Decker: “Communicate to Influence: How to Inspire Your Audience to Action”
Business Tips
Communicate to Influence
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- Parent Category: Business Tips
- Category: Communication
