Tips For Becoming An Influential Communicator

Have you ever wanted to be the type of person who can quickly and easily command a room and get an important point across quickly and effectively? Good communication is vital for those in leadership positions. If you’re striving to work your way up the ladder, these tips for becoming an influential communicator will help.

But first, why does it matter? Communication plays a fundamental role in all facets of a business. Effective communication facilitates innovation, contributes to growth, ensures transparency and helps build relationships. It is therefore very important that both internal communication within your organisation, as well as the communication skills of your employees, are effective. This is particularly important in an age where Zoom is the new normal and hybrid workplaces are more common.

Here are a few tips for becoming an influential communicator:

Be a good listener

Being a good listener is the key to becoming an influential communicator. Oftentimes people go into a conversation with the sole intention or objective of just getting their point across, but this isn’t really the best way to do things if you want to become a good communicator. In any conversation, you must also know how to listen well and, in turn, respond. Learning how to incorporate your points into the response is a good way of ensuring that the conversation isn’t one-sided. It goes without saying that people are more willing to listen if they believe they’re being listened to.

It’s all about active listening. Active listening means that: (1) you spend more time listening than you do talking, (2) you do not answer questions with questions, (3) you avoid finishing other people’s sentences, (4) you focus more on the other person than you do on yourself, (5) you focus on what people are saying right now and not on what their interests are, (6) you reframe what the other person has said to make sure you understand them correctly, (7) you think about what you’re going to say after someone has finished speaking and not while they are speaking, (8) you ask plenty of questions, don’t take notes, (9) and—most importantly—you never interrupt.

Steer clear of jargon

We all know that the business world is full of technical language and metaphors. While it’s natural that laypeople can’t relate to this jargon and metaphors, the problem arises when business leaders overuse jargon and alienate their colleagues and clients with this “business speak.” The solution? Easy: use a more conversational tone if you want to connect with your people. Otherwise, excessive use of jargon can lead people to think that you’re trying to impress them, or worse, they may think that you are being insincere.

Connect on an emotional level

Communication is all about how you make someone feel. In a work environment, it can be tempting to keep emotions at bay, but sometimes it pays to get a little emotional. No, this doesn’t mean divulging your deepest darkest secrets with your employees, but it does mean sharing honestly and openly. Allowing yourself to become a little vulnerable every now and then will encourage your team to do the same and it will develop trust.

Think before sending

As so much of our communication is done online these days, it’s becoming harder to convey the appropriate tone of your messages. Re-read your text before you hit enter, and ask yourself how your message might be interpreted by the reader. Remember that speaking over Zoom. Teams or video call is different to speaking in real life. Talk slowly, take your time and check in with your audience regularly to ensure that everyone can hear you.