This document provides best practices for effective communication in leadership, highlighting the consequences of poor communication, including substantial financial losses for organizations. It emphasizes the importance of digital and oral communication, emotional intelligence, and fostering a strength-based culture to enhance leadership effectiveness. Various communication techniques and media usage are discussed, alongside strategies for presentations and audience engagement.

2. Agenda
•The cost
• Why leaders can be ineffective
Bad
communication
• Forms
• Best Practices
Digital
communication
• Key components
• Best practices
Oral
communication
• Establishing a strength-based culture
• Best practices
Personal strengths
• What is emotional intelligence
• Best practices
Emotional
intelligence
• Candidate for Masters in
Organizational Leadership
• Sr. Marketing Manager for Philips
• Intrapreneur and business leader
• 10+ years experience leading teams Goal: Provide best practices for
effective communication

3. If you want to be an
effective leader, you
need to excel in
communication. In fact,
the success of your
business relies on it”
(Landry, 2019, para. 1)
Leaders must understand and use communication best practices to
be effective communicators and reach their leadership potential.
Research estimates that large companies lose an
average of $62.4 million, and smaller companies
lose $420,000 annually (Buhler & Worden,2013)
($)
Poor communication can cause low morale, loss
of sales, project failure, and missed performance
goals (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2018)
Companies lose significantly because leaders do
not adopt communication best practices
!

4. Virtual
Meetings
Use good
equipment
Turn on
camera
Use good
body
language
End 5-15
minutes
early
Don’t use
distracting
background
E-Mail
Be concise
Be aware of
tone
Use proper
grammar
Consider the
audience
Proofread
Chat
Start with
the reason
for reaching
out
Don’t be a
distraction
Remain
professional
Be concise
Use
empathetic
tone
Social Media
Have a
target
audience
Use proper
grammar
Be
professional
and polite
Follow social
media
policies
Do not
overuse
hashtags
Telephone
Use
professional
language
Use
empathetic
tone
Speak clearly
Vary vocal
pitch
Announce
when on
speaker
Best practices of common forms of digital communication
Digital
communication is
using electronic
technology to
transmit information
Leaders should use
positive messaging as it
has been shown to build
resilience and
engagement in teams
(Schimschal & Lomas, 2019)
Best Practice

5. • Newsletters
• Flyers
• Bulletins
• E-Mail
• Memos
• Chat
• Telephone
• Audio recordings
• Teleconferences
• Virtual Meetings
• Video Media
• Conversations
• Meetings
Face-to-Face
Video
Audio
Written,
Addressed
Unaddressed
Documents
Media
Richness
Least Effective
Most Effective
Choose
best
channels
for
Dispersion
Graphic derived from Guffey & Loewy
(2015)
Expert
recommendations:
Strategically select and use a
variety of media for
communication (Wiles,2017)
Select the right repetition of
key messaging through
strategic channels for most
effective communication
(Conner, 2018)
Avoid using the same media
and channels too often to
avoid message fatigue (Jiyeon
et al., 2017)

6. Enthusiasm – Align body language, tone, pitch, and
messaging that shows enthusiasm for the subject.
Engagement – Seek to engage the audience with
content, open body language, questions, and story telling.
Clarity – Use clear communication and messaging.
Evaluate – If possible, practice with a subset of your
targeted audience for feedback.
Create – Draft presentations and experiment with
different ways to deliver key messages.
PowerPoint Best Practices
Research has shown that preparation is the strongest
factor for successful presentations (Carello, 2002).
Be Prepared
Outcome focus – know your audience and what the key
objectives and messages are of the presentation.
To Deliver:
Use the Four
Aces
(Babik &Vera,
2020)
1. Use uniform fonts
2. Use font colors that contrast with
background
3. Keep titles and points brief
4. Use sans serif fonts that are easy to read
5. Use content that clearly supports and
clarifies objectives
General Guidelines
(National Conference of State Legislatures, 2018)
Why focus on PowerPoint
Analyze – Critically evaluate the audience and how to
best communicate key messages.
To Prepare:
Use ACE
Framework
(Lowenthal, 2009)

7. Components and Best Practices
Vocalics
Language
Know
your
audience
Understand who your audience is
Why the is audience here
What information the audience wanting to learn
Use proper and correct language
Use vernacular your audience is familiar with and expecting
Vary tone to keep the audience engaged
Change pitch to emphasize key points and show enthusiasm
Use a volume that everyone can hear while also using it to
stress key points.

8. Engaging body language Be confident Interact with the Audience
Figure 1. Illustrates the difference between open
body language (top) versus closed body language
(bottom).Original image.
Figure 2. Illustrates the
confident body language
(CitiRecruitment, 2021)
Figure 3. Shows audience interaction by asking to pull out
money (TedxZapopan, 2021)
• Use open and active body language
• Use the stage
• Move towards the audience
• Never turn your back
• Dress professionally
• Use confident tone
• Use good posture
• Be enthusiastic
• Ask questions
• Poll the audience
• Use props
• Use various forms of media

9. 1. Use guidance from various resources (e.g. Strength Finder 2.0
(Rath, 2007)). One can also use online resources.
2. Get feedback from colleagues and managers.
Identify
Strengths
1. Leadership commits to fostering a strength-based culture.
2. Leadership leads by example and finds their own strengths first.
Start with
Leadership
1. Identify champions and provide resources.
2. Use coaches to help identify and develop strengths.
Build a
Network
1. Implement strength assessments and performance
measurements.
2. Integrate strength-based programs into internal programs.
Integrate
Building a Strength Based Culture Best Practices
(Gallup, 2020)

10. Figure 2. illustrates a screen shot of
Strength Finder 2.0 results.
By identifying strengths, employees can better understand
what naturally motivates them and how they naturally
communicate.
Identify
Employees should share their results with each other.This
allows others to understand the motivations and most
effective ways to communicate with one another.
Sharing
Gathering peer feedback can provide insights to how others
see an employee. 360-degree feedback is a recommended
method to collect this important feedback (Gallup, 2020)
Feedback
Integrating strength-based programs into performance
reviews allows an employee to measure progress in developing
strengths.
Measure
Reflecting is a vital process in understanding and developing
one’s strengths (Kouzes & Posner, 2018).
Reflect

11. Components of EI (Landry, 2019)
Self-awareness Self-management SocialAwareness Relationships
Emotional Intelligence Best Practices (Ackerman, 2021)
Observe
Train
Reflect
Practice
Understand current skill set, strengths, and areas to improve.
Recommended test links: PsychologyToday & Psychtests
SelfAssess
Track and measure your own emotions. Observe the emotions
of others and communicate to gain emotional perspectives.
Leaders and teams should read, receive coaching, and take
classes to develop EI skill set.
Engage practicing components of EI. Recognize emotions,
emotional buildups, recurring patterns, and record them.
Take time to reflect by reviewing and thinking upon observed
situations and the emotions experienced and perceived.

12. Conclusions
The cost of bad communication can cost
organizations millions
Call to Action
Use these best practices to develop effective communication skills
and reach one’s potential as a leader.
Leaders must adopt best practices in
digital and oral communication to be
more effective
Leaders should develop their strengths
and their emotional intelligence to be
more effective communicators

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