1. . 13 SMART KEYS TO COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY
1. Concentrate on the delivery of your message. No matter how important content is,
your delivery is what sells the message.
2. Open and honest communication leads to respect and trust. Never lie or mislead and
make sure the point of your message is not buried / misunderstood.
3. Managing up is all about communicating effectively with your boss. It means
making sure your manager is aware of the big issues that are plaguing the team and
possible topics that may be discussed at management meetings.
4. Metaphors are a great way to pull people into your message. Metaphors should be
appropriate to your message, interesting and simple to understand.
5. Understand the importance of the nonverbal. When you first meet someone you have
just ten seconds to make an impression on them (or) put it in another way the first 10
seconds after meeting a new person you will be making a particular impression on
them whether you like it or not. Before you even open your mouth to speak, you non-
verbally imprint the other person with your personality. Facial expressions, attire,
posture and eye contact are a few non-verbal cues.
6. Now is the time. Get your message out in a timely manner (or) people will go
elsewhere for their information.
7. Insights into different people’s personalities, cultures and communication preferences
help you tailor your message and be better equipped to adapt communications within
your team as needed. To succeed in today’s work place it is not enough to be smart,
technically savvy and experienced, you also need to be people smart to get along with
people well and bring out their best.
8. Compelling messages are more interesting and will stick with your audience. People
won’t listen to you simply because you speak well. Give them a reason to listen and
pay attention.
9. Active listening is a very important communication skill. Most people think
communication is simply speaking or writing and wonder what listening has to do
with communication. Communicate = Talk right! No. “In active listening we are
also genuinely interested in understanding what the other person is thinking, feeling,
wanting to express.
10. Telling the story is another powerful way to pull people into your message and there
are more likely to remain interested and engaged while you are speaking.

2. 11. Improving your communication skills will also improve your productivity. Practice
all facets of communication form gestures, facial expressions, and tone to the specific
words you use speaking clearly, projecting confidence and more.
12. Obvious is not always, when communicating take care to write or speak to our target
audience. Try to avoid confusing acronyms, business jargon and technical speak and
don’t assume everyone is bearing what you are saying.
13. Nothing is more important than good communication. If you were to focus on only
one skill, I would suggest it be communicating effectively.