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Owning the tools of a carpenter does not make me a carpenter. The same is true for communication.
July 2006
Volume IV, Issue 4
YOUR GUIDE TO SECURING THE POWER OF PERSUASION
COACHING SERVICES TO IMPROVE PUBLIC SPEAKING, PRESENTATION & COMMUNICATION SKILLS
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If I Had a Hammer...
Many athletes have the will to win. But only a select few
have the will to prepare to win.
- John Wooden, 10-time NCAA Champion Basketball
Coach
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How does the song go? “If I had a hammer, I would hammer in the morning…” Well,
I do own a hammer. In fact, I think I own two. I also own a few screwdrivers – some
flathead, some Phillips. I own a tap and dye set, vise grips, wrenches, a saw and many
cordless tools including a drill and several sets of stainless bits.
Any qualified carpenter would feel right at home in my basement. But just because I have
the tools does not mean that I, myself, am a qualified carpenter. The tools on their own
do not magically provide me with the necessary skills to wield them effectively. In order
to become a qualified carpenter, I must work hard to acquire the skills.
This same line of thinking applies to communication. We all own the tools of communication.
At the most basic level we have our voice, a pen and paper. Thanks to technology, we also
have access to the Internet with email in our homes, offices and, when we travel, on our
BlackBerries, Treos and laptops. We have mobile phones and voice mail. Many of us have
pagers. Anyone who wants one can get a laptop with an LCD projector and give a PowerPoint
presentation. (As an aside, some studies have estimated that there are 30 million PowerPoint
presentations given in the United States every single day. Shocking. We’ll
discuss this chronic disease in a future issue of The Beacon.).
Yes, we all own the tools of communication. We can receive and dispense information more
rapidly and more directly than at any other time in our history.
But, simply because we own the tools of communication, are we automatically qualified
communicators? Of course not, yet this conclusion seems to get lost amidst our busy lives.
In our work with The Latimer Group, we frequently speak with organizations that justify
their purchases of new computers, phone systems and hand-held wireless devices for their
employees as an investment in communication. As a result, they assume their staff should
automatically be better able to communicate capably and correctly.
In other words, we frequently see organizations and professionals make the following
critical mistakes:
- They confuse communication tools with communication skills.
- They confuse communication quantity with
communication quality.
- They confuse communication speed with communication efficiency.
To put these mistakes in context, here are a few recent, real-life examples that we have
bumped into. Do any of these sound familiar?
- In the first meeting with a new client, a senior executive shared
with us a simple but critical issue: “I am concerned that my sales managers and
professionals are not communicating well with our clients. I worry they are not telling
our story clearly and are not close enough to our clients and prospects. And last year
I spent $5 million investing in all the electronic communication gadgets they asked me
for.”
- We recently ran a training class on effective communication
for one of our client companies. We began the class by discussing what “effective
communication” meant
to everyone in the room. One woman described herself in the following way: “I
am pretty well known in our organization as being a great communicator.” We
asked her to tell us why she had earned that reputation. “I keep everyone in
the loop,” she told us. “So, for example, if an important email comes
to me I think of everyone who should know about it and I immediately forward it to as many
people as possible.” But why does this make her a good communicator? She first
responded with a shrug, and then said, “Because that is what communication is.
Sharing the information as broadly as possible. Cast a wide net and see what happens.”
- One of our clients complained that when her colleagues or manager
traveled, they would often answer her email requests with one-word replies or kneejerk
reactions. If there were multiple questions or issues in the email, they often only
addressed the first point. And frequently her questions were far too complicated for
one-word answers. “It
was clear to me they would rapidly fire through their emails, briefly read mine, see
the first question, think about it for about 3.2 seconds, and then respond. I know them
well enough to know they thought they were being efficient. But in fact if they had just
slowed down a bit, they would have been able to give the answer we needed, which in the
end would save more time. Instead, their replies caused another full round of emails
that we had to read and write.”
These are just a few classic examples of communication misconceptions we see
every day. The vast array of communication tools that modern technology provides for us
creates the illusion that by simply enabling communication, it will automatically improve,
that quantity equals quality and that speed equals efficiency.
The fact is that communication only improves with skill. Having more tools in your toolbox
doesn’t necessarily make you a better carpenter. Knowing the right tool to use and
using it correctly does.
In today’s modern business environment, email and text messaging have become extensions
of our voice. Yet too often these tools are wielded incorrectly, which leads to miscommunication.
The answer is that all tools of communication – verbal and written – should
be used with clear goals, a keen understanding of the audience and a plan to develop, deliver
and secure your message.
Goal. Audience. Plan. This is The Latimer Group Method for effective and persuasive communication,
which will sound remarkably familiar to our clients and longtime readers of The Beacon.
Effective, persuasive communication always starts with a clear
idea of your goal. Rather
than simply “casting a wide net to see what happens,” a skilled communicator
has a clear idea of what they want to achieve in every conversation, email or presentation.
What do you want people to think or do when they are finished listening to you or reading
your message? What do you want to convey in your interview with the local paper or trade
journal?
Effective, persuasive communication always considers the perspective of the audience. A
skilled communicator takes the time to consider the needs and mindset of the audience before
engaging them. What are their issues? What do they care about? Is the audience too busy
or distracted to keep their full attention? Can you identify the audience’s potential
objections?
Effective, persuasive communication always has a thoughtful plan to guide the
audience from where their thinking is now to where you want it to be. How can
you shape your message to solicit the desired response? What do you need to do or say
to demonstrate your point to the audience? How do you reinforce your message so they
remember your critical points? What is your main point?
It takes tools and skills to build a house. And it takes tools and skills to
persuasively sell your product, raise capital, lead your organization or be an effective
communicator. When you provide your people in your organization with the tools of 21st
century communication, you are only providing one part of the equation. The tools provide
them with access, but the tools do not automatically provide them with skills they will
need to succeed.
So as you think about your organization, ask yourself this one important question: Am
I confident that my VP of sales, sales managers, sales teams, customer service, spokespeople
and HR teams fully understand our message and are delivering it effectively and consistently
to both external and internal customers?
If you don’t like your answer to this question, think about what
else can be done to develop your organization’s
and your employees’ communication
skills. And finally, consider Coach Wooden’s quotation at the beginning of this missive: “Only
a select few have the will to prepare to win.”
Dean M. Brenner
President |
Marni H. Lane
Media Specialist |
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© 2006 The Latimer Group. All Rights Reserved.
Dean M. Brenner -
The Latimer Group: 203.265.4344.
Feedback or comments: dmbrenner@thelatimergroup.com.
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