Have you ever struggled to explain exactly what you mean – clearly and concisely – during a meeting? Find it difficult to capture people’s attention when you’re giving a team brief? Maybe you’re envious of a colleague who always seems to have an anecdote that brings events to life and smiles to faces.
Being a leader can be tough if effective communication doesn’t come naturally to you. Being a leader – period – can be tough.
But don’t panic if you lack the oratory skills of influencers like Steve Jobs and Tony Robbins. Communication is a skill like any other. It can be learned, and it can be improved. The key is to measure and celebrate the small steps of progress along the way.
Let’s take a quick look at the role of leadership communication and then discover some simple strategies for improving your own communication skills.
Why Is Communication Such an Important Leadership Skill?
According to Gallup, which developed the CliftonStrengths Assessment, Communication is one of 34 natural talents (in other words, things that individuals do best). These talents are divided into four domains: Influencing, Executing, Strategic Thinking, and Relationship Building. Communication falls within the first domain. Influencing themes help you to take charge, speak up, and make sure others are heard.
Clearly, the ability to influence is an essential leadership skill. If you develop excellent communication skills, you’ll find it much easier to do things like resolve conflict, build trust, improve productivity and enhance relationships. And what leader doesn’t want to inspire employees and avoid disputes?
What Is It That Good Communicators Can Do So Easily?
Those who are exceptionally talented at the Communication theme find it easy to put their thoughts into words. You know the sort: they’re relaxed conversationalists and entertaining presenters. When you’re listening to them, you’re thinking “Oh yeah, that’s a good way of putting it’ or “Wish I said that at my last quarterly review meeting.”
Good communicators have a knack for drawing pictures with words. That’s because they love using stories, examples and analogies to illustrate what they mean. This ability to form images in the minds of listeners is a wonderful attribute, but it’s not the only technique they use to communicate. To pique interest, provide clarity and motivate others to act, they draw on a range of tactics that we’ll look at below.
Is Learning to Become a Better Communicator Worth the Effort?
Without a doubt. Because becoming a more effective communicator will help you become a more effective leader. If you can build a rapport with your team, you’ll be able to inspire them, and they’ll be able to achieve results.
Don’t worry that you can’t become a good communicator unless you learn how to tell witty stories. It’s not essential, so let’s leave that particular tactic to the raconteurs among us. What you can do though is to focus on learning to connect with others. After all, communication is all about making a connection. Put like that, it doesn’t sound as daunting, does it?
So, with that comforting thought in mind, let’s look at 11 strategies that will help you strengthen your communication abilities so you can expand your leadership influence.
11 Strategies for Improving Your Leadership Communication Skills
- Encourage discussion and learn to listen. Understand that communication is not a one-way street. If you drone on and on just to ram your point home, people will tune out. So, encourage questions and feedback, stop yourself from jumping in all the time, and let your people have their say. Plus, don’t just listen. Show that you’re listening.
- Give people enough time to respond. This follows on closely from the point above. Some people in your team may be shy. Others may be unsure if you (or others) really want to hear what they’ve got to say. Present everyone with an opportunity to react to what is being said, even if time is pressing. After all, your people want to be acknowledged and feel included.
- Filter your responses. We’ve all done it. I’m talking about making an inappropriate joke, giving a sarcastic reply, discounting a suggestion or remark. However, as a leader, it’s important that you suppress the urge to use clever retorts in general work settings. You’re unlikely to build a rapport with your team that way. Instead, pose thoughtful questions or express thanks for a person’s input.
- Be aware of non-verbal communication. Much of what we communicate is through physical cues. For example, poor posture can indicate a poor level of confidence so don’t slouch and don’t fold your arms. Likewise, pay attention to the body language of your audience. You’ll soon see if they’ve stopped being engaged, and that is your cue to change your approach or stop talking.
- Develop your empathy skills. For leaders, empathy has a practical value. Among other things, it helps your team achieve its objectives, generate ideas and overcome conflicts. It also underpins your ability to communicate. If you’re empathetic, you’re more likely to notice non-verbal cues, encourage open conversation, and express appreciation.
- Simplify your message. Do you tend to get a bit long-winded when imparting news or relaying instructions? Wading into the weeds risks confusing or boring people (or possibly both). Either way, you’ve lost your audience. Start and end your messages with a key point and keep the middle part as concise as possible. You can always clarify details during feedback.
- Skip the jargon and management cliches. Okay, this is something else that we all do from time to time. But it’s irritating to listeners, and you run the risk of sounding pompous or unoriginal, not to mention incompetent if you use them incorrectly. Reserve jargon for talking to technical audiences about technical topics and eliminate clichés from your vocabulary.
- Pace yourself. Some of us have a naturally fast speaking pace. Others gabble when nervous or excited. Whatever the reason, we’re hard to follow when our words tumble out. We can also give the impression that we lack confidence. Make a conscious effort to pause between phrases and sentences and to vary your intonation. Breaking your speech into bullets can also help.
- Improve your diction. Clear articulation makes a positive impression in the workplace and increases your confidence. What’s more, it makes it easier for others to understand and engage with your message. This is not about using clever words. It’s about enunciating clearly. If this is something you need to work on, check out these 9 tips on improving your diction.
- Manage your emotions. Revealing anger, impatience, dislike or frustration when you speak with your team is a sure way to hinder communication. They’re likely to ignore you or react in kind, and then you’ve lost your opportunity to influence. Strategies like deep breathing, mentally stopping and evaluating, and smiling (yes!) can help. And remember always to be respectful.
- Practice public speaking. I know. The stuff of nightmares and as stressful as moving house or getting divorced. But it’s a great way to build confidence and self-awareness. Consider joining Toastmasters, a nonprofit organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs. There’s bound to be one near you.
Most people consider communication an essential leadership skill, and I have to agree. Leaders are communicating all day, every day. In small talk, in meetings, in negotiations, in the office and in the boardroom. But I also recognize that not everyone excels at effective communication. Fortunately, since it’s a skill, everyone does have the chance to improve how they communicate in the workplace. Let me know in the comments below what communication strategies you find helpful.