Effective communication is a (totally learnable) skill. Let’s land you that promotion or deal with these communication hacks:
1. Guide others (or establish boundaries) via logic, packaged in the form of targeted questions.
2. Nonverbal cues are powerful. Be mindful of body language and use very expressive facial responses as needed. For example, show shock with an inappropriate comment.
3. Understand motivations, influences, and bias. Ask multiple questions to get to the root cause.
4. Don’t be afraid to be unapologetic in your responses. No fear in turning others off with your ideas and opinions will counterintuitively bring you up and garner respect.
5. Take massive action. Walk the talk.
6. Do not let bad behaviors slide. Stand up for yourself and others.
7. Express the reasons for taking action when you sense resistance. Be expressive by telling a story. Use visually engaging language.
8. Shift perspective. Frame your responses by accounting for the other person’s point of view. Also, ask questions to shift their point of view.
9. Find the gap. Asses what information and assumptions they have and do not have.
10. Be deliberate with word choice, tone, and non-verbal cues.
