Five Ways to “Pivot” and “Circle Back” to CLEAR Communication
Meetings should not require a translator when everyone speaks the same language. And yet, people leave meetings and log off Zoom every day confused, frustrated, and stressed over the communication that didn’t happen.
It’s 8:27 a.m. and teams around the globe are walking into and logging onto the exact same meeting even though they all work for different organizations.
“Good morning, everyone. Okay, let’s hit the ground running with a deep dive into our current KPMs, KPIs, and strategic outcomes. I think we all know that data drives decisions and moving forward we need to circle back to some of the things we’ve learned during these unprecedented and trying times that have become our new normal.
If we are going to rise to the challenge in the face of a strong headwind, we need to create some synergies, efficiencies, and contingencies as we pivot and embrace a digital transformation that will allow us to better enhance the experience for all stakeholders tethered to the brand.
It might be worthwhile for leadership to take this offline and talk about alignment and out-of-the-box thinking to capitalize on the low-hanging fruit before we ask the hard questions about personal bandwidth in this work-from-home paradigm we find ourselves in.
For now, let’s run it up the flagpole and see if we can get consensus on a go-forward plan to ideate, meditate, and curate a culture of human capital to amplify our B2B, B2C, and Me2Me efforts.
Let’s dig deep this week and remember, at the end of the day…it’s night.”
My goodness. Sound familiar?!
Sometimes trying to sound really smart, is really a dumb idea.
Meetings big and small should inspire our teams with energy, positivity, and clarity.
Here are five things you can do to create clarity and power in your communication. (I try to pour all five into every keynote speech I give.)
1. Comedy: Humor is a wonderful elixir for boring meetings and everyday life. I am not suggesting that you have an open mic segment, but I am encouraging you to bring a little levity to start your meetings.
Maybe something funny happened at home, on the road, or at the grocery store. If you don’t have a funny bone, borrow someone else’s. Reading a funny story or even a dad joke will do – just lighten the mood a bit.
2. Language: Use language that is easy to understand and doesn’t require a dictionary or thesaurus. In writing, research shows that we should communicate at a seventh-grade reading level. Why? Because it’s understandable. Isn’t the goal of communication to get through and leave no doubt about what was said? So why then would we speak at a Ph.D. and MBA level at work?
Your teams will thank you for saying what needs to be said in a way that is completely understood by everyone. Not only will they thank you, but they will also be able to execute with the complete confidence that they know where they’re going.
3. Energy: Nothing worse than a monotone, low-energy speaker. I naturally talk fast with a lot of energy. I hear all the time from audience members that there was no time to be distracted while I was talking. To keep up, they must pay attention. Most people listen at a rate of 150 words per minute. If you speak at 100 words a minute, you’ve already lost them. They’ve processed your 100 words and moved on to something else, most likely to one of their devices. I talk at around 300 words a minute. That leaves no time for wandering minds. It also creates energy and elevates the performance for everyone.
4. Attitude: Meetings that have a positive and optimistic tone are the best. People are tired and beat up. They need an attitude boost from their leaders and each other. An uplifting tone is far more inspiring and motivational than a negative one. We draw people in with a vision of what’s possible.
5. Respect: This is critical in my opinion. People long to be validated for who they are and the work they do. We validate people by respecting their time, their opinions, their contributions, and who they are as people. Through our communication we can demonstrate the value they have to us and let them know that we see them, hear them, and that they matter to us, the team, and the organization.
So, there you have it – five simple ways to elevate your communication and make your message CLEAR.
Copyright © 2021 Kevin Brown. All rights reserved.