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Six steps to communicating with impact

14 January 2015|

Updated on 6 March 2019

Effective communication needs more than mere receipt of a message by the target. A guide to messages that create results

Every individual and group depends on one another to a very large extent. This interdependency is possible only since they can interact and communicate with each other. As motivation guru Paul J. Meyer says, “Communication — the human connection — is the key to personal and career success.”

Even our ancient philosophers acknowledged the importance of spoken communication. Aristotle comments that the essential characteristic of a man as a social being is his power of reasoned speech. Communications continue to be important since modern society thrives on rapid interchange of information through various communication links. Their reach today is, needless to say, fantastic.

Effective communication involves more than the mere receipt of a message by the receiver. It creates understanding, acceptance and action. Effective communication yields a sense of motivation and clarity of thought. Let’s examine six steps to creating impact with communication.

Infuse interest, induce impression. To attract your audience and hold their attention, you need to understand their interests and needs. Your message has to be relevant to their lifestyle, age, experience and expectations. They have to thoroughly enjoy, get engaged, excited and energized during the conversation. Also, your message has to stimulate their creativity, imagination, and motivation level.

Simplify your message. The receiver needs to understand the key message at the first shot. “The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak,” says Hans Hofmann. Creating an impact depends on how clear the communicator in his mind about his message and how effectively he can transfer it to others. The effectiveness of an organization’s operations depends on clear and timely flow of information within it.

Provide relevant examples or anecdotes. This not only attracts your audience’s attention, it also helps them to relate easily with your key message. It is an effective, inexpensive and long-lasting means to reinforce your message.

Appeal for acceptance and action. The proof of effective communication is in achieving the desired results. Impact has to be evident in action, performance, productivity or creativity. Therefore, you have to make sure you gain the receiver’s commitment to acting on the message.

Check for comprehension and clarification. We often assume the inherent effectiveness of either the message or our communication methods. We really verify if the receivers have comprehended it and are willing to act on it. One needs to ask questions and clarify doubts or concerns.

Feedback. This provides an opportunity to learn, receive suggestions and criticism. The sender must consider and evaluate feedback with an open mind and make corrections where necessary.

Lee Iacocca says, “You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere.” So, communication with impact is very essential to share one’s message and be an effective leader. If a leader can't get a message across clearly, having the message doesn't even matter.

The steps mentioned above, beginning with creating and interest in the receiver, passing through simplicity in the message itself, combined with examples, appealing for action and creating understanding in the receiver and, finally, willingness to accept feedback and modifying one’s message accordingly, are vital for communicating as effectively as possible and making the clearest kind of impact.

Topics

#Communication

Author

Dr Vishwanand