Communication skills are one of my top outer game leadership attributes at which leaders need to excel.

All of us have been around some great and some not so great communicators. How many of you have been in a meeting where the message falls flat either because the speaker is communicating in a slow, monotone voice; is having a hard time getting to the point or is just not clear as to whom has accountability to do what and by when?  As you move up the corporate ladder, it is critical your communications become clearer, crisper and that they connect with people. Here are some steps you can take to become a more effective communicator.

First, find out how good you are by asking some of your team to give you authentic and honest feedback about your communication style. Pick people you know who will give you honest feedback instead of telling you what you want to hear.

Record yourself throughout the day. Every smart phone has a recorder feature; use it. Be transparent with others when you are recording your messages both one on one and in group settings. Tell people you are working on being a more effective communicator.

Take this feedback from your stakeholders along with what you learned about your recorded communications and take action to improve. In my work with leaders, I am frequently recording the leaders messaging and then playing it back to them to give them real time feedback. There are many resources available to you including hiring a coach. As I was moving up the corporate ranks, I decided to invest in myself and attend a 3 day communications workshop where I was videotaped eleven times over the course of the program and was provided real time feedback from communication experts.

Second, be prepared. Know who your audience is and identify the main themes and critical points you want to emphasize to that audience. It takes preparation and time to be an effective communicator. Leaders need to be intentional about their communications. They can’t wing it. What they want to say, why they want to say it and what actions they want their audience to take are important questions leaders need to address.

Third, use stories and metaphors to make your message come alive. Storytelling and the use of metaphors are a powerful way to connect with your audience. Stories have often been called an extended metaphor, which should be a clue that metaphors and analogies play a powerful role in making stories better. In fact, they can not only make a story better, they’re so good, that they can be used to replace a story entirely. And that works because your audience has a bunch of stories already in their brains. The metaphor attaches your idea and your story to the existing one that’s in their head.

An example of this is used in my recent blog on vision (GO HERE). I used a wolf pack hunting its prey as a metaphor for how our team needed to work together to achieve the vision. I also shared Kipling’ s poem, “The Law of the Jungle”, to emphasize my message.

Why is communicating so critically important? Here a few reasons:

• It brings life to your vision for success for your organization or department. Your message engages your team to act and respond and get on board with your vision.
• It enables you and your team to be clear as to who is responsible and accountable for what. Often I see lack of accountability in the organizations I work with primarily due to the lack of clear and concise communications. One of my CEO clients was frustrated after several weeks of things not getting done after his weekly staff meetings where he felt his message was clear on what needed to be done and who was responsible to do it. Besides working on his messaging, I suggested before the close of every meeting everyone, including the CEO, go around the room to confirm what was discussed, who would be responsible to take action and by when. This enabled the entire team to confirm the issues that were discussed and clear up anything before the meeting closed.
• Conflict is reduced and avoided. Most conflict is the result of misunderstood communication. As an effective communicator you can resolve conflict and create harmony by bridging the communication gaps that create conflict. You also use these skills to deal with conflict between people, resolve performance issues and clarify expectations.
• It helps develop stronger relationships. Effective communications build strong business and personal relationships because you learn what people want and how to provide it to them.
• It helps your team and others adopt your ideas. Effective communications are not about what “you” want. It is about discovering what your team and others want and need and then adapting your communications to meet their needs. As you practice and develop your communications skills, you will find your team and others will adopt your ideas because you have helped them discover them for themselves rather than telling them.

How effective are your communications? What have you done to get feedback on your style? What action can you take now to help you be a more effective communicator? Effective communication is critical to you and your team’s success.