The 9 Do’s & Don’ts of Strategic Communication

Strategic Communication – How to avoid Common Communication Mistakes?

Overview

To gain strong communication skills, specifically strategic communication, study the following and then put it to practice within 72 hrs. Otherwise, it will be another “gone with the wind” intellectual information that will forever stay dormant and never make it to the actual skill toolkit of the professional.

To be an effective, strategically skilled communicator who excels in strategic communication, the first thing you must realize is that the act of speaking is extremely powerful and was never meant to be just a weak utterance of words, which is how it is commonly used.

Realizing this fact will give you a tremendous edge in almost every walk of life!

You must understand that having strong communication skills is critical to lasting professional success as well as life leadership and personal management success.

I sometimes shudder how people in very important positions make beginner’s mistakes when they speak to others. I always wonder how they got to a high position with minimal communication capability.

Some researchers suggest that it takes 45 seconds before you are judged and “put into a box” by the way you speak, and some studies suggest that it takes 3 seconds!!! So It’s instant, and you need to get this strategic communication skill right, as a priority and as a business strategy.

The skill of strategic communication combines strategic thinking + communication skills. 

Strategic communication will teach you how to communicate according to what is needed in content and form, which depends on the quality of tone, and nonverbal communication skills.

When the three are aligned, words, tone, and body language a memorable and lasting impact on the listeners is achieved.

When you think strategically about communication and execute as planned you use strategic communication, which is the art of communicating in an exact manner according to the need of the occasion.

The following are 9 Interpersonal Strategic Communication tips that will make clear how strategic thinking can positively impact your level of communication

1. Mistake – Don’t talk about yourself – The first critical mistake that speakers tend to make is to make their communication all about themselves, not about their audience.

Remember to Remember, communication is all about the receiver, the listener, not about You. Your audience is your stakeholder!

You can say brilliant things but if you don’t know how to capture your audience it won’t matter.

They need to not just understand your message, they need to feel it. If they didn’t, they will forget you as your words will blur quickly thereafter.

Also, you will have missed an opportunity that may never return and you risk being labeled as boring and therefore not taken seriously.

Solution– make it all about your listeners, don’t bore them with talking about yourself, especially if you are a man, talk about what matters to them in specifics, and separate yourself from other speakers by being unique

2.  Mistake – Low-level impact – Not realizing that speaking to people is an opportunity to be a great ambassador of your professional excellence.  Being too general, colloquial, and loose with your words without making an impact.

Solution:  Get specific and address the basics. Show them you, and remember to make fun of yourself from time to time…people love that because it shows them “your excellence as an ordinary person”. They are not looking for a God, they already have one.

 

 

 

3. Mistake – Speaking too fast – this engages the brain only, which leads to multiple unfortunate consequences in interpersonal communication, such as misunderstanding, confusion, lack of context, and ultimately not getting the message.

Essentially, people don’t get the message if you speak too fast, you lose them. Here is the thing…they won’t slow you down or ask questions because most people have a great fear of seeing to be stupid and judged by others. So you think you delivered a message? guaranteed, they got very little if you don’t slow down.

Solution: – Master the skill of strategic communication by measuring your words carefully, which will cause you to slow down. Practice the art of emphasizing. “Tell them, tell them you told them tell them you told them you told them” – that’s the motto of getting your message across.

Realize, once and for all, that how you speak is how people will judge your character more than anything else! Even if your audience is pressuring you to get to the “meat of the matter”- resist speeding up.

Measured speaking gives you stature of CHARISMA through the correct usage of words, tone, and body language.

“Tell them, tell them you told them tell them you told them you told them” – that’s the motto of getting messages across.

“Tell them, tell them you told them tell them you told them you told them” – that’s the motto of getting messages across. You See I Just Did It For You 🙂

4.  Mistake – Not incorporating Emotional Intelligence in your delivery – Emotions move people and dry words don’t.

Solution: Get EQ into your IQ – study what EQ is all about and make it part of your communication skills. Introduce your level of care, empathy, and, warmth. Realize that people need to gradually warm up to your message. It’s a process! (as a man would court a lady).

Driving straight to the point doesn’t give them the time to warm up to you. This in a way is saying “No” to people.

Try to give your audience the feeling that you are saying “Yes” to them, by acknowledging their presence and importance! Show genuine interest and practice active listening, all of which are EQ skills that are important parts of communication skills and strategic communication.

Warm them up to you by simply being human and showing some vulnerability with humor (Believe it or not, vulnerability builds trust).

5. Mistake – Not involving your audience in your delivery – one-way street communication is dominant and ineffective – it does not allow for interactivity, which is the key to dynamic speech.

Furthermore, it alienates your crowd and causes a disconnect in Emotional Intelligence.

Solution – Important part of strategic communication is to Involve your audience by asking open-ended questions and demonstrating a genuine interest in their answers by following up on their responses. You build a positive rapport through interactive communication where people feel included.

The rule is that you speak to one person like you would speak to 1000 people and vice versa

6.  Mistake – Using too much explanatory language – this is boring and, therefore, retention tends to be at a minimum – you must not give them the link to the painful experience they remember from school days, by being monotonous in tone and over-explanatory in your style of communication (which as you know is how most school teachers tend to be).

Solution – Tell stories! include yourself in the picture with examples from your own life. The human brain loves stories and examples and it causes people to be attentive and engaged. Make fun of yourself, show them you take matters seriously but you take yourself lightly. This demonstrates humbleness, eases tensions, and increases retention.

 

7.  Mistake – Preaching to people “You should do this” or “You shouldn’t do that”!

Solution – The opposite of preaching is a lively delivery that does not condemn or blame, or tells people what they should or shouldn’t do. Instead, it delivers a light-hearted message, giving people the big picture and offering them choices and reasons.

When you take yourself lightly people will enjoy your Interpersonal Communication much more.

8. Mistake – Being negative. Don’t do that! It will come to bite you in the long run and it gathers the wrong people around you. Negativity has a very short shelf life and so will you if you judge and criticize others to promote yourself.

Solution– Learn the art of positive thinking and become truly powerful by becoming good at expressing and communicating positivity – Excell making others better and showing them that you are energetic and positive. Remember, strategic communication is all about infinite success, long-term, never a quick fix with short shelf life.

9. Mistake – Content over-emphasis – most professionals tend to stress over what they will say in their delivery which delivers stress to their audience. They mostly fail to prepare strategically and therefore their message lacks inspiration, enlivenment, and motivation.

Solution – Think through how you want to come across, what emotions you would like to convey, what makes your audience inspired, what speed you would need to get your message to lodge, and what would be the best dressing for your content. It is your form that will dress your content and it is your content that will give meaning to the form. This aspect alone will make you a great speaker down the road.

Finally

The idea of Strategic thinking and strategic planning being part of communication skills can make a huge difference in what you achieve through your communication with people.

This is the next level of interpersonal and crowd communication which answers the requirements of the business world in the 21st century.

Elite Strategic Communication courses and personal coaching are offered by The Thinking Coach worldwide.

Please read below…

What Strategic Communication Training Seminars, Offered By The Thinking Coach, Will Do for You & Your Organization?

These are extremely effective Soft Skills Training Seminars, which provide professionals with high-level Interpersonal and Crowd Communication Skills while helping them turn common costly communication mistakes into powerful communication assets.

We will focus on how to craft a strategic message according to the needs and sensitivities of the audience, which will include strategic thinking and strategic planning skills.

In that, we will learn to effectively synergize strategic thinking and emotional intelligence within the message by learning how to blend the tone of voice, the body language, and the spoken word.

In short, this program will improve your efficacy and assertiveness dramatically and will help you achieve the great quality of CHARISMA

Eli Harari

The Life Coach for Professionals™

 

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