How to communicate more effectively in business
We were recently in Dubai at the Arabian Travel Market exhibition, showing people how to communicate more effectively in business, when working with people from around the world.
One of the challenges that people from all backgrounds face is 'how do I persuade people with my ideas and make my points memorable, without being unprofessional?' Perhaps you have been in a meeting in the past where you wanted people to care more about your ideas, or perhaps you wanted them to take action on what you have said...but they didn't.
So how can you give your ideas the respect and importance they deserve?
In the quest to be professional, many people lose their personality and their passion. We often talk about our professional lives and personal lives as separate things, therefore some people think that being professional means being impersonal. Of course you know that people buy people, whether they are buying into your ideas or your company.
So what's the cure for this? How do you get people to listen to you?
There is a simple cave-man like instinct which you can apply, to make sure that people care about your ideas and feel persuaded by them...
This picture shows the fountain in Dubai. It is the biggest fountain in the world, in front of the tallest building in the world, outside the largest shopping mall in the world. Being big has helped put Dubai on the map. It will do the same for you and your ideas.
How do you know if a friend of yours feels excited, passionate or inspired by an idea? They use more energy to express that idea than they do for other things.
This is true since the days of being cavemen. Before the age of convenience stores we simply didn't know when we would get our next meal. We had to conserve our energy. Therefore if you saw another caveman using lots of energy for something you knew it must be important.
Show them you mean it...
The next time you have something important to say, GO BIG! Everyone in business is good at speaking sincerely about things, quietly and softly. That's all fine, but it gets very dull after a while.
So if you have something important to say:
- Get your body centred (don't push yourself forward - stand your ground!)
- Use your arms and voice in a way that is more energised, yet controlled (not frenetic)
- Make sure you feel that you are using much more energy than you usually use when you speak about general things
Of course, it is much easier to advise you on this when we work together one-on-one! For now, just try this out with a colleague, or use a video camera. Try saying your idea with low energy (your natural communication level, one-to-one), then do a second version with much more intensity (not screaming, just doing what you did with added intensity) and see the difference it makes.
In 10 years of coaching clients around the world, we have never seen anyone use too much energy to express themselves. For fear of standing out, people act small and their ideas often get lost. This week, try going the other way. Be expressive, use energy and present your ideas with the importance they deserve. Go Big!
Free Video Tip - to take this one stage further...
There is something else you can do that will give your ideas more respect, personal impact and credibility. It is simple to apply and gives instant results. Learn all about it in this month's free video tip, from the amazing city of Rome. You can click here to view it (it is just 3 minutes long, that's all it takes).
