Why learning speaking skills is crucial for you to get the life you want.
Our ability to communicate clearly and concisely contributes to 70-80% of workplace success. And yet, it's an area where we receive little to no training.
When it comes to communication, most of us focus on our content. We prepare our messages and word choice. And yet, whether we are aware of it or not, we are judged (consciously or unconsciously) on a daily basis according to the pitch of our voice, the cadence of our delivery, and the structure of our thoughts.
These “soft” communication and delivery skills were most likely not taught to us in school. Yet these are the skills that make or break our success in so many crucial situations. So, when we are not able to persuade, or communicate effectively, or make an impact, we can discover a lot by dissecting HOW we are delivering out thoughts and learning some tools and best practices for communicating our points well.
Here are just a few communication areas that can help define your success at work and in life:
Interviews
Your content is great, but you could probably use help understanding how to drive the interview. You might benefit from delivery techniques to help you to sound calm, clear, confident and concise. You might need an outside ear to help you to understand and articulate what makes you uniquely valuable to your next role.
Advocating for yourself
Clients often ask me how to “make themselves more visible” as visibility is often a prerequisite for promotion. When is the right time to talk about your accomplishments? How do you characterize what you’ve done and what you uniquely contribute? How do you finally have that conversation about promotion without sounding whiny or entitled? What is your brand and how do you spread the word?
Giving a Toast
Most people can give a toast, but can they remember the joy and laughter of giving it? Oftentimes we feel so nervous, that we aren’t present and don’t allow these important moments to sink in. I can teach you how to organize your thoughts and stories and MOST importantly, be able to be present during the experience.
Leading Meetings and Facilitations
The most important part of any meeting or facilitation is the first five minutes. During that time you’re setting the tone, the expectations, and connecting with your audience. How do you build authentic connections? How do you handle nerves and anxiety? How do you ensure that you accomplish what you want? How do you handle people that derail a meeting, or ask questions when you don’t want them to?
Difficult Conversations
I like to have my clients remember that we’re essentially all aliens from different planets, speaking in different languages, trying to get on the same page. When we have to have difficult conversations, it’s ridiculously easy to be misunderstood or misunderstand the other person. It’s important to have structures that ensure we create the opportunity to both directly communicate our message, and share empathy for the other person’s point of view. It’s most important to have body language tools and techniques to remain as neutral and clear in our delivery as humanly possible.
Networking Events
No one likes small talk. Ok, two people do, but the rest of us feel so AWKWARD. What if you had a few formulas to make small talk not only feel tolerable, but actually illuminating and enjoyable? This is what I can teach you how to do.
Between doing well in interviews, handling difficult conversations, advocating for yourself, enjoying the memorable moments in life and acing networking events, you might be asking yourself: “Who WOULDN’T want a communication coach?!” All of these KEY moments or important as they are pivotal moments in a life. They are moments when your trajectory is determined, and doors of opportunity are either opened, or not. During these moments, it can feel deeply supportive to have a communication coach by your side.