The Power of Effective Communication

There are good communicators. And then there are amazing, outstanding, powerful communicators who will have you on the edge of your seat with their riveting delivery. But what makes the difference between a decent communicator and someone who will instill awe in the people they interact with?

There are several, sometimes subtle habits that master communicators have truly understood and leverage on a regular basis.

 

If you’re looking to elevate your own communication skills, adopting these habits will help you get to the next level. But it’s important to remember to be authentic and not try to be someone you’re not — it’s not about emulation but learning how to unleash your own strengths and style.

Oftentimes, when you try to implement some of the mentioned strategies, you may run into challenges. To resolve this very issue, I wrote my book "The Breakthrough Accelerator - Resolve your Biggest Challenge in 4 weeks"- Receive your Free download of my book by Clicking this Link

 

The tendency to lean in a particular direction is heavily influenced by personality type and this fact alone is often overlooked. When in doubt or ignorant about your communication style it’s easy to overcompensate or adopt a style that doesn’t suit you. The best communicators are comfortable in who they are and their personalities. They are able to authentically connect with their audience because they have first authentically connected with themself. However, if you’re ready to crush it while also staying true to yourself, here are a few pointers to level up your own communication game. 

Leverage your personal experience - There is a reason people say what is most personal is most universal. It turns out that your past experiences that don’t seem immediately relevant or some of the insights you learned the hard way can end up being your edge when transmitting the information. 

Continuously honing your craft and providing value - Master communicators love analyzing their communication habits, strengths, and areas of improvement. Some good communicators enjoy hearing themselves talk. But outstanding communicators transcend their own experience to focus on the experience of the audience they are addressing. They have a value-first mindset. 

Master communicators are amazing listeners - Here’s a secret about the best communicators: They sometimes spend more time listening than talking — and that’s what makes them excel when they do speak. In order to talk about things that are of the utmost importance to others, they have to first be able to form those thoughts. Those thoughts can come from spending adequate time receiving information from others, thinking deeply and being able to see what others are missing. 

So, you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing you don’t need to try to be like the very topmost expert communicators to nail your next presentation and you can forge your own path to create value and earn the respect of your clients and peers.

Zoom Call Etiquettes to Keep in Mind

 

Now that we all have pretty much adjusted to the “new normal,” Zoom calls have become less of a temporary solution and more of a permanent fixture in many workplaces. And while Zoom may seem pretty straightforward, it’s important to start taking these video calls seriously, if you want to keep moving your career forward. 

 

Oftentimes, when you try to implement some of the mentioned elements, you may run into challenges. To resolve this very issue, I wrote my book "The Breakthrough Accelerator - Resolve your Biggest Challenge in 4 weeks"- Receive a Free download of this book by Clicking this Link 

 

Here are 5 common mistakes you might be making on Zoom to sabotage your success and how to fix them -  

 

  

1.Thinking every conversation needs to be a Zoom call. Think back to your days working in the office — did you take time out of your workday to schedule a meeting for every single discussion or question that came up? If you did, you surely found that you didn’t have enough hours left in the day to get your regular work done. 

 

Zoom is a great communication tool, especially if you’re working from home — but it should be used sparingly. Save it for important meetings or training sessions. A lot of quick meetings can be had over a simple phone call. Or, if it’s just a quick question that needs to be answered, you may even be able to resolve it over email or a messaging platform, such as Slack.  

 

 

2. Not muting yourself. This one is especially important if you are in a meeting with lots of people. It can be very distracting for the person who’s presenting when they hear every cough, rustling of papers, or child in the background of everyone’s homes. Therefore, the only person who should have their microphone turned on is the one who’s talking.  

 

Given how many of us are working at home with others (dogs, cats, kids, loud significant others) it’s likely best if you aren’t talking, to just mute so you don’t accidentally have something you’d rather not share broadly go out live over the internet. Just keep your mic turned off until it’s your turn to speak or you have a question. 

 

3. Not taking video meetings seriously. When you are attending a meeting in person, you give the person who is leading or presenting your full attention. It would be rude to be on your phone or work on something else when you are supposed to be focused. The same should apply to video calls. It can be tempting to multitask while on a Zoom call because you are in the comfort of your own home and think no one can see you — but make no mistake when your camera is on, your lack of attention is more obvious than you think. 

 

4. Not turning your camera on. It may be tempting to turn your camera off during a Zoom meeting, especially if there are a lot of people present and you want the freedom to work on other things. However, this could be a huge mistake. There are very few circumstances when it is appropriate for your camera to be turned off. The purpose of hosting a meeting via Zoom is to provide a sense of normalcy and community with your teammates, partners, clients or whoever.  

 

5. Sharing more than just your screen. This innocent mistake could result in some very embarrassing situations. Sharing your screen is common practice in a Zoom meeting, especially if you are leading the meeting or presenting something with the group. However, it is crucial to prepare for this ahead of time, so that you only share what you intend to. 

 

Make sure you turn off all notifications. The last thing you want while sharing your screen is to get a message from a coworker or friend that might not be appropriate or something you want the whole team to see. You also don’t want to receive any notifications for emails, social media, or the like.  

Be Laser-Focused

 

Good things come from sacrifice. If you want what you’ve never had, you must do what you’ve never done. It’s to start sacrificing the right things so you can have a better future. 

 

Don’t let anyone define success but you. Stop being “busy,” and start being focused.  

Spend your time wisely because many things want your attention and energy. Make sure they’re the right things. 

 

Oftentimes, when you try to implement some of the mentioned elements, you may run into challenges. To resolve this very issue, I wrote my book "The Breakthrough Accelerator - Resolve your Biggest Challenge in 4 weeks"- Receive a Free download of this book by Clicking this Link 

 

Take a look at the 3 topmost things that can define and secure a better future for you, professionally and personally:   

 

1. Other people’s definition of success. At some point, you have to realize that you have to give up other people’s definition of success. This is one of the most difficult things to give up because it is so deeply embedded in our cultural narratives that it becomes the standard by which we measure our lives. Even as entrepreneurs we have collectively agreed that fame and fortune are the markers of success. 

 

But, giving up other people’s definition of success is incredibly liberating and ultimately leads to the fullest expression of who you are and what matters to you.  

 

It’s not a one-time thing. It’s a daily habit of comparing less and creating more. “Success” doesn’t just mean what the larger mob of society says it means: lots of money, fame, and fortune. Many people with fame, fortune, and money have terribly empty, imbalanced lives. Your success isn’t defined by what other people say. No one can define your success but you. If you continue to let others tell you what success is, you’ll never reach it. Even if you did, it wouldn’t be a true success, because it’s not what you really valued. 

 

2. Busyness. The saying goes, “The most successful people I know are not busy. They’re focused.” How you spend your days is how you spend your life. 

 

A lot of people love being “busy.” They wear it as a badge of honor. When you ask them how they’ve been, what’s the response? “I’m so busy,” they lament.  

 

But it’s a subtle brag. They like the feeling. When you’re busy, you don’t really do anything — just because your calendar is full of meetings, appointments, and commutes doesn’t mean you’re actually making any progress towards your true goals. Are you focused, making tangible action steps towards what truly matters? Or are you just “busy?” 

 

When you’re busy, you are on autopilot. You can’t see the hours slipping away, time you’ll never get back. 

 

But when you choose to be focused — to spend your time and energy on achieving your true goals — that’s where the magic happens. That’s where focus turns into flow states, hyper-focused mental efforts to make fast progress. 

Most people prefer the emotional boost of bragging about how “busy” they are, instead of actually doing the real hard work. Choose focus, not busyness. 

 

3. Distraction and Entertainment. Reinvesting your free time is one of the most important ingredients to your success. Successful people don’t see it as ‘free time.’ They see it as the only time they have to do the things they really want to do in life and they don’t take a minute for granted.  If you’re working a full-time job, with a commute and family and bills, you don’t have a lot of free time. If you’re like most people, the precious little free time you do have is spent on entertainment and distraction, not learning, and growing. 

 

This is low-level thinking, and it will lead you to a, frankly, low-level life. 

But true success requires sacrifice. A common misconception many of those sleep-when-you’re-dead hustle-entrepreneurs claim is that you need be working all the time.  

 

The truth is you need to put in hard, grinding work — for a time. After you’ve spent the time creating your life, you can sit back and enjoy the work you’ve done. If you want to make great strides and achieve a truly extraordinary life, you need to reinvest your free time into learning new skills, putting in the work, and being productive. It won’t last forever. But you need to put in the time now, so later, you can have the life you want.