Communication and Leadership

I am often approached by clients requesting leadership training programs. When I probe them to be more specific, they don't always know exactly what they want. They tell me, "We need to develop better leaders at all levels". 

There are many factors that impact leadership. In addition to basic knowledge and general (and emotional) intelligence, here are a few key leadership traits: 

• Leaders understand the past and focus on the future
• Leaders exude confidence and energy
• Leaders have a positive attitude
• Leaders are good problem solvers
• Leaders are great communicators

Many of these traits are innate, others can be taught. For example, to teach someone to have the right attitude is extremely difficult, not impossible but quite challenging. However, my message is this: If you have potential leaders who are smart, capable, confident and possess the right attitude, invest in improving their communication skills.  Communication- public speaking, listening, writing, influencing- can be greatly improved in a short time and taken to new heights. It will make an immediate impact. Potential leaders will gain confidence, see themselves in a stronger leadership role and be perceived as leaders by others.

Write Right

Today, we write more than ever. Emails, texts and tweets are an integral part of our daily routine. The questions I aways ask are, "how does my reader feel about my written message?" "Is my message clear?" "Does it convey the proper tone?" "Is it brief and easy to read and understand?" " Is it clear whether I'm asking my reading to understand something or to do something?"

Although we agree that writing is more prevalent and important today than ever, most of us have never received training in how to be better business writers.

Here are a few tips to help you and get you started. First, define your message and make sure it appears towards the beginning of our document. Do not let the message get lost in the middle and be a conclusion at the end. When the reader receives the message early, the rest of the document makes much more sense. It supports the message.

Keep your sentences and paragraphs short. Long sentences, more than 20 words, are harder to read and understand. Paragraphs of more than three sentences become a block of text on a page. It's less attractive to read and the reader thinks it will be more time consuming. Use bullets to highlight a series of events when possible.

Think about the tone of your documents. How would you like  the reader to feel after reading your document? Ask yourself, how would I  feel if I were to receive this document? This will help you to modify the tone.

Make the document attractive to read. By including personal words (names, pronouns & possessives) and more compact sentences and paragraphs, your readers will look forward to receiving and reading your document.

Good luck!

Listen to Sell

The days of the smooth taking salesperson are gone. Customers are smarter, wiser and more prepared than ever before. Most have done some internet research prior to buying, Today's salesperson must have product or service expertise. However, as important as product and service knowledge is, it is simply not enough. Successful salespeople today must be good listeners.

Good listeners will understand what a potential customer is really seeking. They understand the nuances, the details, the concerns, the fears, the excitement prior to presenting their solutions. They develop sincere relationships which are as important as closing. We have found that when salespeople and consultants really listen, customers, more often than not, want to do business with that person.

Listening is not easy. We all think we're good listeners. Most of us tend to react and assume instead of trying to fully understand the customer's needs. desires, concerns and motives for buying. The good thing is that listening can be learned and improved. Simple techniques will greatly help.

First, concentrate on the customer, not on you and what you wish to offer. Play back and probe often. Occasionally rephrase your customer's message and interests and ask questions to go deeper. Talk less and listen more. We recommend that the customer speak at least 60% of the time. Our golden rule is, don't make a proposal unless your confident that you understand your customer's needs.

Good luck!

Presentations: Your All Important Visuals

I have witnessed good public speakers fail miserably. They are prepared, confident and they exude positive vocal and visual energy. They have worked several hours on their PowerPoint presentation. There is a critical problem that we see over and over again. They are skilled at using the PowerPoint program, however they don't know what information to include on each slide.

How to organize and visualize content is a vital component of a successful presentation. To communicate an idea, a proposal, an improvement, a benefit; we must tell a compelling story that an audience wants to hear. These are challenges that most presenters face and they can make or break a presentation.

Thankfully, there are simple solutions you can follow that are extremely helpful. First, use a format to organize your content. Make sure your message is clear. Formats reduce preparation time and often, the duration of a presentation. They are more efficient than just brainstorming information onto a page or a visual. They also help speakers focus their messages better and improve transition from one point to another.

After you have organized your content, storyboard your visuals. Less information on each visual is preferable. Also, bear in mind that your first few drawings aren't necessarily your clearest or your best. Sometimes it takes a few bad ideas to get to a good one. We recommend using bullets, pictures and graphs:

• When using bullets, short phrases are better. We recommend a maximum of 6 bullets on a visual
• Pictures make a great impact as long as they support your message
• Graphs are better than tables when comparing numbers

After storyboarding, transfer your visuals to PowerPoint or Keynote.

If you're obliged to overload a visual, try building or breaking up. This way, you can show small amounts of information at one time which facilitates understanding by your audiences and greater impact by the presenter.

We hope you find these tips helpful. Please contact David or Alex for more information.

It's About Communication

You're smart, eager and technically prepared for your job. You have a great attitude and you want to grow professionally. You focus on improving every day. In our 30 years at ERC, we have found that what stifles most professional growth is not the lack of technical ability, desire nor enthusiasm. It's the ability to communicate well in a variety of venues. Communication has always been important – today it's vital! Here are just a few examples:Presenting: Presentations are critical for success. The demand for our Executive Presentation Skills programs in English, Spanish and Portuguese has increased 200% over the last 3 years. We have adapted the content of our program to today's technological realities. In addition to standing and presenting in front of live audiences, professionals today need to virtually present and sell messages on conference calls. They need to handle videoconferences through TelePresence and other technologies. They must present to 5 critical decision makers or 5000 through video streaming, and many more in a recorded time-shifted format. This requires critical skills that few have learned. Writing: The average professional today writes and receives many more documents than ever before. Emailing, texting, tweeting and posting are so prevalent in the work place today. One must write quickly, clearly and make an impact. All documents, even the simplest email, must have structure and clarity and convey the proper tone.
Everyone writes, however few write strategically. We have seen a sharp increase in the number of companies contracting our Effective Business Writing program. Selling: Competition is fierce. The need to distinguish yourself from your competitors is critical. We market, we present, we try to convince and persuade. We present our arguments and highlight our benefits and features. Where most salespeople and consultants often fall short is in their ability to truly listen to their internal and external clients. Listening, and fully understanding, before proposing is the key. Most salespeople and consultants are not trained in the most important communication skill: Listening. Negotiating: To reach a fair and positive agreement for all parties requires strategy and communication. One must strategically prepare prior to a face-to-face encounter and be able to communicate that strategy. Many believe that negotiating is an innate trait or they don't believe they can learn skills to enhance their abilities. For these reasons, they don't seek training. This leads to too many concessions or inflexibility. Either way, there is no win-win relationship. Excellent communicators in a negotiation reach faster and better agreements for all parties. These are just a few examples of how the ability to communicate delivers professional growth and success. My message... read, train, develop and improve your communication skills!

Update on Friday, April 13, 2012 at 6:57 PM by ERC Consultants Inc.

Versión en "Argentino" – Muchísimas gracias a Daniel Zorzer.

Se Trata de la Comunicación

Sos inteligente, entusiasta y estás preparado técnicamente para tu trabajo. Tenes una gran actitud y queres crecer profesionalmente. Te concentras en mejorar diariamente.

En nuestros 30 años en ERC Consultants, hemos encontrado que lo que ahoga el crecimiento a la mayoría de los profesional no es la falta de capacidad técnica, ni el deseo, ni el entusiasmo, sino la capacidad de comunicarse bien en una variedad de entornos.

La comunicación siempre ha sido importante - hoy en día es vital! Éstos son sólo algunos ejemplos:

Presentación: Las presentaciones son fundamentales para el éxito. La demanda de nuestros programas de Habilidades Directivas de Presentación en Inglés, Español y Portugués se ha incrementado un 200% en los últimos 3 años. Hemos adaptado el contenido de nuestro programa a las realidades tecnológicas actuales. Además de estar parados realizando presentaciones delante de un público en vivo, los profesionales de hoy necesitan presentar y vender virtualmente mensajes en llamadas de conferencia. Necesitan manejar videoconferencias a través de TelePresence y otras tecnologías. Deben presentar a 5 ó a 5000 tomadores de decisiones críticas a través de streaming de video, y a muchos más en una grabación de formato en tiempo diferido. Esto requiere habilidades críticas que muy pocos han aprendido.

Redacción: El profesional medio de hoy en día escribe y recibe muchos más documentos que antes. Envíos por correo electrónico, mensajes de texto, Twitter y la publicación son tan frecuentes en el lugar de trabajo actualmente.Hay que escribir con rapidez, claridad y generar un impacto. Todos los documentos, incluso el más simple mensaje de correo electrónico, debe tener la estructura, la claridad y el tono adecuado.
Todo el mundo escribe, sin embargo pocos lo hacen de manera estratégica. Hemos notado un fuerte incremento en el número de empresas que contratan nuestro Programa Eficaz de Redacción Comercial.

Ventas: La competencia es feroz. La necesidad de distinguirte de tus competidores es fundamental. Nos lanzamos al mercado, nos presentamos, tratamos de convencer y persuadir. Presentamos nuestros argumentos y resaltamos nuestros beneficios y características. Donde la mayoría de los vendedores y consultores a menudo fallan es en su capacidad de escuchar verdaderamente a sus clientes internos y externos. Escuchar y comprender plenamente antes de proponer, es la clave. La mayoría de los vendedores y consultores no están entrenados en la técnica de comunicación más importante: escuchar.

Negociación: Para llegar a un acuerdo justo y positivo para todas las partes se requiere de estrategia y comunicación. Previo a un encuentro cara a cara, uno debe prepararse estratégicamente y ser capaz de comunicar esa estrategia. Muchos creen que la negociación es un rasgo innato de una persona o no creen que puedan aprender habilidades para mejorar sus capacidades. Por estas razones, no buscan la formación. Esto conduce a demasiadas concesiones o inflexibilidad. De cualquier manera, no existe una relación exitosa. Los comunicadores excelentes en una negociación, llegan a acuerdos más rápidos y mejores para todas las partes.

Estos son sólo algunos ejemplos de cómo la habilidad para comunicar genera el crecimiento y el éxito
profesional. Nuestro mensaje ... leer, entrenar, desarrollar y mejorar sus habilidades de comunicación!