Becoming a Better Communicator

Effective Listening

—  Tolerate silence; keep listening.

—  Ask stimulating, open-ended questions.

—  Encourage the speaker with attentive eye contact, alert posture, and verbal encouragers.

—  Paraphrase what you have just heard.

—  Show emotion to show your sympathy with the speaker.

—  Know your biases and prejudices.

—  Avoid premature judgments.

—  Summarize by reiterating what the speaker said.

Effective Writing

—  Keep words simple

—  Don’t sacrifice communication to rules of composition

—  Write concisely

—  Be specific

Purposes of Meetings

—  Find facts.

—  Solve problems.

—  Pass along information

Categories of Meetings

—  Daily check-in

—  Weekly tactical

—  Monthly strategic

—  Quarterly off-site

Conducting Successful Meetings

—  Meet for a specific purpose

—  Distribute the agenda in advance of the meeting

—  Communicate preparation expectations to attendees

—  Limit attendance to essential personnel

—  Open with a brief overview; review important items first

—  Deal with the most difficult/challenging items early in the meeting

—  Encourage participation but keep to the agenda

—  Limit use of visual aids

—  Clarify after-meeting action items

—  Follow a specific start and end time and follow up