InnerActive Consulting – Insights » Effective Communication

What Are People Skills?

While discussing the potential of certain employees with a HR manager, a question was raised by the HR Manager… What Are People Skills? At first, this sounded like a simplistic question yet the more we discussed it, the more complex it became.

So, let’s take a look at this key term – People Skills.

There appears to be certain factors that resonant with the term People Skills – other than People are involved. There appears to be six key elements when looking at people skills: Continue reading ‘What Are People Skills?’ »

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Posted by Voss Graham on July 30, 2009 at 5:08 am under Coaching.
Tags: Effective Communication, Improving People Skills, Interpersonal Skills, People Skills, Six Key Elements to People Skills
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Selling is All about Effective Communication

Yes, selling is all about effective communication. Just ask any sales person who has failed to say the right things or said the wrong things to a customer or prospect. Delivering the right message that the customer can understand is the goal of effective communication.

Sell to people the way they want to buy.

People want to buy solutions to their issues or problems, yet, few sales people take the time to learn how to recognize this key. They go into presentation style – using their style only – and then are amazed that the customer or prospect is not signing up. The reason again, people want to buy they do not want to be sold.

What does this mean to the effective sales person? Continue reading ‘Selling is All about Effective Communication’ »

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Posted by Voss Graham on June 1, 2009 at 5:26 am under Effective Communication, Sales.
Tags: Effective Communication, Flexible Selling, Sales Tip, Selling to People the way they want to buy
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June is Effective Communication Month

Yes, June is the official month for Effective Communication. So why dedicate a whole month to effective communication? Based upon my experiences I can vote for a yearly promotion for effective communication.

“Effective communication is all about delivering the same message you send to the receiver. Now that seems as simple as simple can be, yet, it appears to be the hardest exercise around.”

Lack of effective communication destroys productivity and in most cases performance drops because of a lack of understanding regarding outcomes. Communication is an essential skill set for everyone, not just leaders. Therefore, everyone is impacted by poor or ineffective communication.

There are numerous things you can do to improve the effectiveness of your communication. One method is to take a proven workshop devoted to helping people improve their communication with others. This is our number one workshop because every group or team in a company can benefit from improved communication skills.

People skill is ALL ABOUT effective communication. Knowing your style, easily recognizing the style of others and flexing your messages so they understand – the first time – and effective communication is known as having great People Skills.

To learn more about improving your communication skills go to the website dedicated to Effective Communication for Results or the speaker site – ECRguy – to learn more about doing something effective during the month of June. Two workshops are available during the month of June. And, a private session can be held for your team – from executives to sales to customer service to R&D to finance to everyone. Communication is the greatest skill a person can possess.

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Posted by Voss Graham on May 29, 2009 at 5:25 am under Effective Communication.
Tags: ECR Guy, Effective Communication, high performance, June is Effective Communication Month
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Leadership and Change go Hand in Hand

Last week I was asked what was the key factor in successful change. My knee jerk answer was leadership. Then we discussed the impact of leadership upon change. It is a factor that you must have in your organization is there is a need for significant change.

Strong and effective leaders known the status quo will not get them to the next level of performance or success. They also know that many people within their organization will continue to do the same things over and over without any change.

Therefore, effective leaders do things to get change done within their organizations. Here are five things effective leaders to make change work for their organizations. Continue reading ‘Leadership and Change go Hand in Hand’ »

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Posted by Voss Graham on May 11, 2009 at 5:14 am under Leadership.
Tags: Effective Communication, Effective Leaders, Goals and Outcomes, Leadership, Managing Change
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Lose the Word “WHY” When Questioning Others

As a communication tip, you need to lose the word “WHY” when asking questions of others. This rule of thumb is to be used if you prefer to have objective discussions like two adults.

When you use Why as the first word in the question, you are creating a potential emotional reaction. When a person is asked why they chose something or made a certain decision, they usually feel the need to defend their position. Then the discussion goes emotional and feeling take the center stage. I prefer to learn the reasons or circumstances that were involved in the decision. Then we can have a true dialogue, rather than a potential debate.

Learn to ask questions using other questioning words – what, how many, did you look at, etc. – that create a back and forth dialogue. Learn this technique and become a better person, friend or boss.

There is one exception to this rule: You can ask yourself questions using the WHY word. Since it is difficult to debate with yourself, learn the factors that influenced your decisions and choices. This is the only time it is okay to use the WHY word in a question.

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Posted by Voss Graham on May 6, 2009 at 5:27 am under Effective Communication.
Tags: Effective Communication, Eliminating Why in Questions
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Are You Listening? It’s a Core Skill.

Listening a core skill. Do you listen to people? More importantly, do you really hear what they are saying?

My experience says that most people are not really listening to what is being said without some type of filter system. Yes, a filter system is what I said. There are four types of filter systems being used by individuals as part of their natural behavioral style.

The four filtering systems are: Continue reading ‘Are You Listening? It’s a Core Skill.’ »

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Posted by Voss Graham on April 28, 2009 at 5:30 am under Effective Communication.
Tags: Effective Communication, Listening filter systems, Listening skills, natural strengths and weaknesses, Questioning skills
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Are You Speaking the Same Language?

Are you speaking the same language as the other person you are communicating with today? Really, this is a serious question. No, I’m not talking about English vs. other Foreign languages (however, this is a subject for a later blog post!).

I’m asking about using the same representational system language so others will understand you and get the real message you are sending. Okay, so what are representational systems? These are the ways your brain prefers to think. There are five different systems – which three are primary.

The three primary systems are visual, auditory and kinesthetic. The other two are smell and taste – which are not used as often – yet are in play in some professions such as taste for chefs. A chef will understand the variations of taste and can accurately express their thoughts regarding the taste of food.

To match the language of others you must study the visual, auditory and kinesthetic languages and practice using the words for each group. Practice is a key part of learning to speak the same language as others.

An example of this information is visual thinkers. Visual thinkers use words such as “I see the big picture.”; “the vision of the future is clearing up for me.”; “Let’s look into…”; “This issue is cloudy for me.” If you look into the words used you will see the visual language. Then when dealing with type of thinker you want to use visual words so they can see the message in their minds clearly.

Auditory thinkers use words like hear, sounds, clear as a bell, I like the tone of this, it’s music to my ears. As you read this you will hear the tones and rhythm of the message and it will music to the listeners ears. Use the same language and your message will ring true.

Kinesthetic thinkers are the doers and touchers of the world. They grab things, handle issues, get in touch with others, hang on to ideas, play the game, and hit the home run or carry the ball. These people are the ones that need to hold on to things in order to get it. Once they get a handle on the issues they can carry on.

Okay, there is the crash course on the three primary representational systems and the words that each will use. The key is to get the other person talking and then listen for word patterns. Then use the same pattern as you reply and you will be in rapport. Then you can discuss any topic with objective understanding. Learn to speak the same language and watch your effectiveness in communication increase.

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Posted by Voss Graham on April 8, 2009 at 5:30 am under Effective Communication.
Tags: Auditiory, Effective Communication, Effective communication skills, Kinesthetic, NLP, Representational Systems, Visual
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Use Questions to Control the Conversation

Most of the time I watch people telling their story, thinking they are controlling the situation. Wow, what a mistake! What is really happening? Most of the time they are disengaging their audience. The disengagement comes from not being a part of the conversation – unless they want to interrupt the talker.

Control comes in various forms, from the highly effective to the totally ineffective. Lets go through some of the stages of control starting with the totally ineffective:

Out of Control – you are talking to fill air time. No confidence and no knowledge, just opinions without certainty. Here the talker is usually nervous and it shows to everyone listening. Random and spontaneous without a clear agenda or logic. Lost their listeners by talking with no interaction with the listeners.

Ineffective Control - Most of the time a person in ineffective control is talking without a clear understanding of what they are talking about. They are boring the listener, yet, have no clue about what is really happening. Some information is presented, unfortunately, since the listener is bored, they may have been thinking about something else and missed the point!

Some Control – Actually have a dynamic or unique style and others listen due the presentation rather than the subject. These are the attention gainers, who if they had a great message and a total understanding of their topic could gain total control. Yet, most of the time it is a presentation only format with a total lack of interaction. Thus, while the presentation showed promise, the real learning and understanding is missing in action. Most speakers and sales people are in this category.

Total Control – Be using questions to guide the flow of the conversation, this communicator is both effective and efficient. Because this person knows their subject very well, they know how to ask questions to gain both the attention of the listener and learn how much the listener knows about the topic. Now the real key is the questioner is engaging and using a process that allows for a self-discovery of information and wisdom.

The key for you is to practice your questioning so you can ask questions easily and with a natural flow of curiousness. This natural curiousness allows for you to ask more questions for both clarity and understanding. And, you will control the direction and flow of the conversation. The amazing thing about this process is others will see you as the great communicator as they do all the talking! Start today – ask more questions.

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Posted by Voss Graham on April 7, 2009 at 5:48 am under Effective Communication.
Tags: Effective Communication, efficiency and effectiveness, Using Questions
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DISC tells us about Team Effectiveness

The key to understanding the makeup of your team and each member’s unique strength is a common format for identifying and understanding each person’s work habits, strengths and communication preferences. Using this information allows for a clear understanding of who is capable of delivering upon the expectations of the team.

There are many ways you can classify people through observation and identify what “type” of person they
are. One of the most common theories addressing styles of communicating is the theory of DISC. Derived
from the early work of William M. Marston, the theory has since been applied to the world of business and
used in a number of different ways to better understand, appreciate work with and manage people.

In team building, utilizing the theory of DISC helps team members truly understand why everyone is
different, what each individual’s strengths are, and how each person contributes to the team. Remember,
communication is more than what someone says. In fact, communication is more about what people do, or
how they act. DISC considers all aspects of communication, from the words we use to how body language
affects communication. By providing a common language with which to speak about our differences, DISC
allows us to recognize other “types” of people, understand them better and leverage their strengths. With
DISC, the team can be more cohesive, more productive and more efficient.

DISC also allows us to look at team dynamics in a whole new light, making sure that a well-rounded group
provides all the strengths needed for success, and each member is in a role that suits them best. Which
person is best to lead? Who should handle the details? What is the best combination for small work groups
within the team?

With DISC, it is easy to identify team dynamics to begin strengthening your company’s biggest asset. Even
if you have a team of star performers, they are only reaching half of their potential if they don’t work well
together. Imagine the possibilities if everyone came together to work effectively as a team.

Contact us about how to implement DISC within your organization. Call us at 901-757-4434.

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Posted by Voss Graham on November 19, 2008 at 6:50 am under Team Building, Using Assessments.
Tags: DISC, Effective Communication, Team Building, Using Assessments
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Posts tagged ‘Effective Communication’

What Are People Skills?

Selling is All about Effective Communication

June is Effective Communication Month

Leadership and Change go Hand in Hand

Lose the Word “WHY” When Questioning Others

Are You Listening? It’s a Core Skill.

Are You Speaking the Same Language?

Use Questions to Control the Conversation

DISC tells us about Team Effectiveness

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