Effective Communication Training London

ANALYTICAL

•             Support their need to process information slowly

•             Be armed with facts to back up opinions

•             Allow time for questions

•             Provide detail

•             Be patient in decision making

DRIVER

•             Support their goals and objectives

•             Be precise, efficient, brief and goal-orientated

•             Present summary information

•             Explain what’s in it for them

TEAM PLAYER

•             Support their need for warmth, sincerity and trust

•             Express an interest in how they feel about things

•             Keep discussions informal and relaxed

INNOVATOR

•             Be a patient listener

•             Show interest in their ideas and dreams

•             Ask questions to focus ideas

•             Summarise for clarity

Tailoring your communication

•             Who are you talking to?

•             What do they already know?

•             What do they need to know?

•             What is the right language to use?

•             Finding the way to collaborate

Barriers to Communication

•             Language, culture

•             Learning styles

•             Behaviour styles

•             Personal preferences

•             Physical discomfort

•             Expectations

•             Emotions

•             Timing

Characteristics of an Excellent Communicator

•             Confidence

•             Good listener

•             Knows audience

•             Clear and concise

•             Regulates unhelpful emotions

•             Prepared

•             Empathy

Unspoken communication

Active Listening

•             Indicates understanding, attentiveness, engagement, empathy, interest

Pauses & silences

•             Occasional verbal encouragement

•             Clarify, confirm and summarise regularly

Body language

•             Gestures, eye contact, facial expressions

•             Reflects feelings, attitude, confidence, belief, nerves, sincerity, commitment, honesty, boredom

Listening Skills

Attention

•             Take a pause from anything else you are doing

Concentration

•             Listen carefully to the feelings behind the words

Total

•             Ask for clarification if you don’t understand

Interested

•             Only ask the question if you are genuinely interested in what they have to say

Valuing

•             Give them the time they need and don’t rush

Empathetic

•             Put your own feelings on hold, they need someone to listen not give advice

Communication considerations

•             Have a framework to smooth communication (RACI)

•             Preferred communication methods

•             Consistent standards

•             Do you really need a meeting?

•             Transparency of communications

•             Document sharing and storage

Speaking up assertively

•             I have an idea or something to add

•             Present your idea clearly and concisely …..

•             …..Because……

•             Explain how it will work and the benefits

E&C Feedback Model

Example

•             Richard, I noticed there were several moments in that meeting where you spoke over everyone else

Effect

•             This was quite disruptive and meant several people didn’t get to share their ideas

Check?

•             Were you aware that this was happening?

Change/Coach

•             Next time, I’d like to make sure others can have their input too

•             What can you do to make sure that happens

Consequences

•             So we can all work more effectively as a team

EEC/K

Example

•             Andy, I noticed you forgot to take all the contact details of that customer you were talking to

Effect

•             With only an email address it will be hard to follow up the lead, meaning we might lose them as a customer

Keep/Change

•             What other contact details do we need?

The Disagreement Process

The Affirmative Statement

•             Yes, I’d love to help you with that

The Softening Statement

•             I can see that you’ve got a lot on your plate

State Reasons

•             Looking at my schedule though, I’m in back to back calls until the end of the day

Disagree

•             So, I won’t have time to help you today

Compromise/Alternatives

•             I could fit in some time tomorrow morning if that works?