Taking the right tone? How to improve your workplace communication
Effective communication is a key factor in workplace success – but are we doing it well enough? Iona Bain explores how the way we speak can impact our careers
Remember back to January 1st? An innocent time, when you were brimming with optimism for the year ahead. Skills waiting to be learned, bad habits waiting to be scrapped, empty bottles waiting to be put out in the recycling bin after THAT New Year’s Eve party.
Alas, it is all too easy to neglect self-improvement once the day-to-day routine kicks in. All those deadlines, meetings and all-round pressurising responsibilities mean we keep treading water, rather than swimming ahead. But if there is one resolution that is worth your attention – and commitment – it relates to the device you are using to read these very words.
The rise of smartphones, computers, tablets and other technology has been blamed by many business leaders for a soft skills deficit. They argue that our ‘heads down, screen on’ mentality means we cannot engage with others in the flesh, and that this could be fatal for our career prospects.
Indeed, your manner of speech alone can hugely influence how others perceive your ability to lead, work with others and get the job done.
David Spencer, founder of Spencer Media, is a highly regarded voice coach. He believes that young workers who depend on email and other impersonal communications miss out on opportunities to foster meaningful connections and put across their ideas with meaning and clarity. In other words, they don’t learn how to communicate effectively. So how can we go about improving the way we speak in the workplace?
The key is to know how you sound in terms of pace, tone and language. Spencer offers some simple advice: “How we perceive ourselves is very different to how other people perceive us. So it may be useful to record our voice so we understand whether we speak authoritatively, take our time over sentences and give enough emphasis to what we’re saying”Prepare thoroughly what you say before you say it. Make notes before an important phone call, run through presentations with colleagues and (patient) friends, rehearse difficult or sensitive conversations in front of a mirror…just remember that even the great Mark Twain once remarked: "It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech."
So what are you waiting for? Book that difficult meeting, take on that big presentation or ring that colleague...give your true voice a chance to shine.
Iona Bain is a Financial Journalist and blogger. Her blog offers personal finance advice and education to young people. Iona also hosts a weekly program on Share Radio called Young Money & Young Rights.