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Five surefire techniques for effective communication

We all communicate every day. We talk with our neighbors, resolve disputes, write business letters, personal greetings and make the occasional speech. How well we communicate our ideas depends on the techniques for effective communication which we employ. Here are five proven techniques for effective communication to improve your communication skills.

The clarity with which you present your ideas is essential. Whether you’re writing an essay or having a verbal conversation with your neighbor, you must practice clarity. To this end, strive to increase your vocabulary. Let’s say you wish to compliment your neighbor on her new hair style. “That looks good”, is not quite clear. Your neighbor may even be insulted, thinking her old style must have been terrible to evoke your remark. “I love that subtle color. It looks great with your complexion!”, is much better. You’ve made it clear what it is you like and why.

When conveying a more complex message, use an organized and logical approach. Here’s an example of how to put this technique for effective communication to work for you. Let’s say you’re meeting with your boss to discuss a proposed project. You should not arrive at the meeting unprepared. Take the time to sit down and order your material in a written format. You wouldn’t begin with telling him how one of your objectives should be met. You first want to state the problem which justifies the project. Then you might go into a step-by-step itemization of the objectives, how each will be met and the time required to implement each objective. You might conclude with any open issues. Your boss will surely appreciate the clarity, organization and logic of your presentation.

It’s been said that brevity is the soul of wit. When you’re writing Aunt Mary, you might go on for pages, with all the latest family news. However, when you’ve got a list of questions to ask your physician, you want to be concise and to the point. Enough said!

Perhaps the most valuable technique for effective communications is to remember that it’s not all about you. This is one of the most common errors people make when communicating. They get so involved with their own point of view that the other person feels completely left out and stops listening or reading. If you’re chatting with your neighbor and the conversation consists of what you’re doing, thinking and feeling, your communication is one-sided and self-serving.

This leads us to the final point when you study techniques for effective communication. Always keep in mind that communication should result in an exchange of ideas where everyone learns. You, of course, wish to persuade the other party to your point of view. However, you must leave the door open to alternate perspectives. In this way, everyone benefits.

Present your information clearly, logically and in an organized format. When appropriate, be concise. Be willing to be open to other ideas. Use these techniques and see your communication skills improve dramatically.

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”
—Peter F. Drucker

Who knows best how well you’re performing as a manager? Your employees, that’s who.

But getting them to speak or write freely on the subject can be difficult. Especially if you run a small department, anonymity is crucial to them. So make it pleasurable instead of a chore for your team. Send them out to lunch together annually or twice a year—on the company’s dime—and instruct them to talk about your management skills. One person in the group will be responsible for taking notes and compiling a report for you that summarizes all that was said without citing or giving away who said what.

Yes, there may be some painful moments as you read through the feedback, but there will also be insights. You may discover that what you intended to do in some circumstances was perceived in an entirely different way by your employees. You may also learn what you’re doing well that’s appreciated, and what you need to do more of. Everyone wins with this kind of feedback approach.

MySpace

MySpace has become the social gathering place online for people of all ages. Just about everyone that uses the internet has a MySpace page. It is free to set up an account and there are plenty of wonderful features. The main page of a MySpace account is all about the individual including their likes, hobbies, pictures, and anything else they wish to share.

In addition to personal pages about people on MySpace, there are plenty of memorials. These are for people that have passed away but their friends don’t want them to be forgotten. Other people continue to come to such pages and leave messages that everyone can share. It is a great way to continue the healing process for most people.

Since MySpace has become so popular, people turn to it for information faster than they do any other type of location on the internet. With millions of hits each day, this has become somewhat of an icon for the internet. Imagine a particular type of site being able to generate that amount of traffic on a daily basis.

In addition to visiting with other people, you can find out information relating to music, sports, events, schools, and fun activities. It is also a place to discuss a variety of different issues with others that have a similar interest. Some people use their MySpace page to promote their business or their band. As a result of the number of people out there, the exposure is unbelievable.

There are plenty of videos that can be watched at MySpace as well. On any given day there are more than 50,000 of them in various categories. The majority of these are amateur videos that people create for fun or exposure. The rest are of celebrities, concerts, natural disasters, and any thing else of interest that you can imagine.

Some researchers worry about the amount of freedom that occurs on MySpace though. It is possible that online predators are able to access too much personal information about others in this manner. Parents definitely need to be aware of what is taking place on their child’s MySpace account. Make that part of the agreement for them to have one. While there are dozens of other social websites that have been ignited due to the popularity of MySpace, not of them have had the same level of success.

A cool and inspirational video on entrepreneurship - only view this video if you are ready to be motivated…

What can you learn about business from a children’s movie? You can learn some great entrepreneurial lessons from the recent film "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" starring Johnny Depp.

WARNING -Spoiler Alert- If you have not seen the movie (or the older version) yet, this article may give away a few elements of the story that could reduce your enjoyment of the film. You can always come back and read it after you have seen the picture.

Marketing

"Find 1 of 5 Golden Tickets in a Willy Wonka product and be one of the first people in a long time to visit the magical chocolate factory. Also, one kid will win a special prize that will exceed your wildest imagination."

This is an excellent promotion. It sparks interest in Willy Wonka products, builds brand awareness, and most importantly; it significantly increases sales. The media picks up on the promotion and generates a tremendous amount of free publicity. Word of mouth referrals help spread the promotion to areas that were untouched by newspapers and television.

Positive Thinking

There are many "naysayers" who discourage the main character, Charlie, from getting his hopes up about finding one of the lucky Golden tickets. Negative thinking can be devastating, especially to a child. However, Charlie does not take heed of the negativity. Supported by his Grandmother’s constant reassurance, Charlie keeps a positive outlook and believes that he has as good a chance as any other kid to find one of the five tickets.

Don’t Quit

Charlie refuses to give up on his dream of finding a ticket. After he doesn’t find one on his first, and probably only, attempt - he doesn’t quit. Charlie believes that he will get one of those tickets. Providence provides two more opportunities and amazingly, Charlie finds the last ticket! This is especially significant because it had been falsely reported that all of the tickets had been found.

A Good Support Network

Charlie has an excellent support network. Although very poor in financial terms, Charlie is very rich in family. He lives in a loving environment and appreciates every member of his household. He selflessly offers to sell his ticket to provide some much needed cash for his family, instead of taking the special chocolate factory tour. His family will have nothing of it and encourages him to pursue this once in a lifetime opportunity.

When Willy Wonka offers to make Charlie his heir, Charlie refuses because accepting the offer would mean that he probably would never see his family again. Willy Wonka later makes the offer again, but allows Charlie to bring his family this time. Charlie’s family then extends its hospitality to Mr. Wonka and he ends up gaining the positive and supporting network that he had needed as well.

Four Good Lessons

If you are an entrepreneur or are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, remember these lessons from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". It takes good marketing, positive thinking, and a good support network to get started. Most importantly, don’t quit - your success may be only one candy bar away.