Monthly Archive for January, 2009

  • How Can I Become Better at Making Presentations?

  • At the very least, before you begin preparing your speech, ask yourself the following questions: What exactly am I supposed to speak on? Will my audience expect me to provide the facts and figures or just an overview? How long am I supposed to speak? A good speaking rate is around 125 to 150 words [...]

  • How Can I Become More Effective as a Negotiator?

  • Before you enter into any negotiation, you need to be sure of why you are doing so. What specific conditions do you want to exist when an agreement is reached? Will you accept less? What is the absolute minimum you will accept? Just as you know your needs, you need to know about your opposition’s [...]

  • How do I Delegate Tasks That I’m Tempted to do Myself?

  • Giving work to an employee is delegation, one of the hardest tasks for some managers. Part of the problem is due to a reluctance to relinquish control of anything they’re working on. Many managers operate on the basic assumption that someone else either can’t do the work or at least can’t do it as well [...]

  • How Can I Best Give Directions to my Employees?

  • Before giving any directions, you need to plan: What you want as the end result of the communication. Set objectives. Who should receive the directions. How you will give the instructions so they will be best understood. That means you have to select the appropriate medium. Would it be better to put the instructions in [...]

  • How Can I Communicate More Effectively with Employees in Remote Locations?

  • Thirty percent of communications via phone are true communications—that is, live communications. The remaining 70 percent of the time in which the phone is used, it is to send voicemail. Here are some tips for using live phone calls: Make telephone appointments for important calls when you need to discuss matters in depth, just as [...]

  • How Can I Present my Ideas Persuasively?

  • Not only should you know what it is that you want but you also have to visualize it in terms of the other person’s needs. Consider the implications of your idea. When you present it, be as specific as you can. The key to getting buy-in is to make sure the idea meets some self-interest [...]

  • How Can I Improve my Listening Ability?

  • Studies have shown that typically we remember only about 30 percent of what we hear. The effective listener will try to improve on this percentage. The techniques for doing so include the following: Practice active listening. Prompt further information. Beware of perceptual filtering. Restate what has been said. Tell Me More Practice active listening. We [...]

  • One of my Colleagues Continually Interrupts me. What Can I do or Say to End This?

  • The best way to handle the problem is to interrupt the person who has interrupted you. Then, in a calm voice, you should ask, "Please wait until I finish my thought." In group discussions, the perpetrator of the bad habit is likely to back down. Once you have completed your remarks, you might say to [...]

  • How Can I Counter Erroneous Rumors?

  • When you think of the grapevine, you think of gossip, mostly bad news about the organization. Whether you like it or not, a grapevine will exist in your company. You can’t eliminate it but you can limit its potential for demotivating staff by feeding it accurate information. Begin by sharing good news with staff members [...]

  • How Can I Encourage my Employees to Share Their Ideas or Talk About Problems with me?

  • Surprise. The best way to generate a flood of ideas or information about problems from your employees is to ask them. Beg your people for suggestions if you have to. Make your desire for employee suggestions well known in your written and your spoken announcements. Don’t let up. After a while they’ll understand that you [...]

  • How Can I Respond to an Angry Employee?

  • The worst thing you can do when confronted with an angry employee is to try to "smooth over" the anger or simply tell the person to "calm down." That may cause a momentary lull, but it won’t help to solve any underlying problems and may cause important information to be overlooked. Sending the right message [...]

  • How do I Deliver Really Bad News?

  • When the bad news will be a shock to the person or persons you have to tell, you may want to forewarn them. Start by saying, "I’m going to have to give you some bad news." Such an outright statement lets people prepare emotionally for the upset. Follow that up with the bad news and [...]

  • How do I Say "no" to an Employee Request?

  • You can soften your rejection of a request by using the "sandwich approach"; that is, put the "no" part of your response between two neutral or positive statements. The first comment paraphrases the request, demonstrating that you have heard it. "I understand why you would want a draft of the e-newsletter. However, I can’t release [...]

  • What is the Importance of Body Language in Communication?

  • Verbal communication accounts for only about 7 percent of the meaning others will extract from your words. More important is the 38 percent accounted for by intonation, inflection, pitch, emphasis, speed, and volume, and the remaining 55 percent accounted for by body language (eyes, face, size, posture, motion, and gestures). Consequently, if you want to [...]

  • How Can I Best Get My Messages Across?

  • To communicate effectively in person or in writing, your communications should be clear, complete, and as short as possible. To be clear, complete, and brief, first think about what action you want the receiver to take. Next, list all the facts the other party will need: the who, what, when, where, and how. Then you [...]

  • When Should I Talk to Employees in Person, and when Should I Use Written Documents?

  • If the information is of a sensitive nature, a personal conversation is best. If it is called for, a one-on-one conversation will enable you to express your opinion tactfully and in a caring manner. Your voice can add an entire dimension of emotion that written words, even by the best of writers, cannot convey. If [...]