Effective Communication-II: The Power of Storytelling!

In my August 14 blog I focused on effective inbound communication, where I wrote about how to improve your listening powers using the six tips presented in that blog. As a follow-up to that blog I am going to present another six ideas here for getting your point across through effective outbound communication.

1. Before you communicate, either orally or in writing, know who your audience is. Each audience has its preferences in how it processes incoming information. So, knowing the context in which the audience has come to hear you, using the right language, and employing the right messaging are important to keep the audience engaged in what you have to say.
2. Before communicating anything ask yourself what impact you want to create with your message, what do you want them remember, and why they should remember it. Once you have this figured out then design a message that does this well. People often know what they want to communicate, but the intent of their communication is often not met by their inability to ask these three simple questions. Even if they ask these questions execution can be done poorly, which has the same overall negative effect.
3. One of the most powerful ways to get people’s attention is to appeal to their emotions and not just to their logic (engineers and scientists, take heed). Often, you need both. So, prepare what you want to say first with laying out the groundwork with logical statements and then complementing that with a powerful story that appeals to the audience’s emotions. People will often forget the underlying facts you tell them, but they will always remember a good story, especially if it is delivered well. So, when you go to a job interview learn how to tell some facts, followed by a story that is well presented, using these tips.
4. When you are telling a story timing and effect are critical. Learn how to master these two elements by watching great stand-up comedians.
5. Once again, make sure that the story you are narrating resonates with the audience. So, if you talking to students tell them a story about succeeding in college or choosing the right career. A story about corporate success or retirement may not resonate as well with this crowd.
6. If you are talking in front of a group carefully watch their body language and adjust your material, delivery, and tone so that you are tuned in with their ability to take in your message. If you are not sure, pause, and ask some questions. Then, depending on the responses, adjust your message and how you deliver it to accommodate the audience’s preferences.

Great communication happens when both, good listening and good messaging are mastered. Using the material presented in these two blogs I hope that you can learn how to do both! If you want to improve your speaking skills joining Toastmasters International can be a boon to your learning how to speak more effectively.

Good luck!