Spring Cleaning
Now that spring is here, it’s time to freshen-up, renew and say goodbye to some old things and habits. Here are 3 tips to make your communication skills sparkle!
Declutter. Get rid of filler words, such as umm, well, you know, basically, literally, like… These common expressions are sticky, annoying and rob you of confidence and clarity. They have no room in an elegant speaker’s vocabulary, but they can get into your speech habits easily, and might seem hard to eliminate. Awareness is the best tool to get rid of the clutter. Record yourself and tally up your filler words, identify which ones are your “signature” ones, and ask a trusted friend to give you a signal every time you use them. Or work with a speaking coach to achieve speech clarity faster.
2. Throw away “unfortunately”. Whoever came up with an idea to start sentences with the word “unfortunately”, must have been on a mission to disappoint and disengage the listener. You see, the word “unfortunately” is usually followed by a denial of a request or an expression of rejection. If you must delivery a “no” to someone, starting with a word as negatively charged as “unfortunately”, will only make things worse. If you must be the bearer of bad news, I recommend that you preface your response with “I’d love to be able to do that for you, and…” This brings me to another point…
3. Upgrade from “but” to “and”. “I understand what you are saying, but…” This sentence structure has a hint of disagreement, and makes the listener feel as if you dismissed their facts or feelings. However, using “yes, and” shows a much more collaborative approach and opens up opportunities. Compare these two examples:
Well, basically I get what you are saying, but like this is the rule and there’s nothing I can do. You didn’t notify us ahead of time, so I literally have to charge you a $25 cancellation fee.
vs
I would love to be able to do that for you, let’s see what we CAN do. I understand that unexpected things may come up, and at the same time we have a policy in place that allows you to cancel an appointment up to 24 hours before the session. Since you are notifying us within the 24 hour window, there will be a $25 cancellation fee this time. The good news is that I have an opening later this week, would you like to secure that appointment?
Let’s remove all the clutter, heaviness and negativity from our speech, and communicate in a fresh and inspiring way!
Happy Spring and Happy Speaking!