Communication with Credibility : My learning Notes

Tactful bragging

- There I was standing in the middle of the hallway of our business school right when the dean, the most important administrator in the school, asked me how the student trip to Greece was. Startled, and not having a well-crafted answer I said, "It was great." As we walked away I could have kicked myself if I didn't look too awkward doing it. "It was great," Tatiana that's all you had to say? The inaugural business education effort on this top ranked business school, and all you said to describe it to the main decision maker was that it was great? I was so angry with myself, but I quickly realized what happens to many of us when it comes to self-promotion. We get caught off guard, we have not given our responses any thought, and therefore we have just nothing substantial to say on the spot. Tactful bragging is about making a connection with the person you're interacting with, while sharing something about yourself that will help you stand out. Peggy Klaus, in her book BRAG! The Art of Tooting Your Horn Without Blowing It, says that bragging in today's culture is not a choice, it's a necessity. A successful brag, like the one I missed my chance of making with our dean, would have a few components, in fact three important ones. Focus on results versus titles. Describe a little bit of how you do what you do versus given your job title. For example, when someone in sales management is asked for what they do it's better to say, "I lead a sales team that scored "five national accounts last year," versus saying, "I'm a project manager." When someone asks me what I do I always like to say, "I coach professionals to be exceptional speakers," versus saying, "I teach a business communication course." Second, focus on process versus job description. This is similar to the introduction of your self-promotion, but it goes a little deeper into the logistics of what you accomplish daily. Caution that the level of self-promotion you do might depend on the occasion and the overall timing. If you're talking to key company representatives at a social event, it's appropriate for you to delve into logistics of your work. Always read your audience, and self-promote accordingly. Back to the project manager being asked to describe what he does, he's better off saying that he manages by promoting autonomy and creativity for his team to reach their highest potential, versus saying that he oversees staff in five different regions. Back to my teaching example, I always add that I focus on experiential learning since speaking is a coachable skill, versus saying that I have X amount of students, and I've taught for X amount of years, and I have X amount of sections that would be too boring. Finally, loop back to your audience, because bragging belongs in the category of networking, connecting and building rapport when you describe your accomplishments and methods it's always a good idea to reflect back on your listener. Find the right loop back, to bring them in, and connect the dots. Did they hint at what they do? Is there something you discovered that the two of you have in common, or do you have an inkling as to what they may be interested in? The sales manager who talks about his team may loop back by saying, "I heard you mention earlier "that you work with a team, "do you find that autonomy is a motivator?" In my case, the social interactions where I present myself follow some type of meeting or keynote speech. In this case, I usually like to say, "Do you think our speaker today "received some coaching at some point?" If I could turn back time, and meet our dean in the same hallway I would have sounded a lot different. "Tatiana how was your trip?" I would say, "Thanks for asking Dan, it was a big success. "We made several business visits, "and we connected with alums in Athens. "Our students are well versed on the "European Union's economic crisis and Greece's role. "We had dozens of hands on experiences "that the students will go on and on "when they talk to recruiters. "You know the importance of teaching our students "to have a global mindset since you just got back "from Korea, how was your trip Dan?" Self-promotion is something you cannot afford not to do. Read more about the art of BRAG! In Peggy Klaus' book, and take the BRAG! test. Stay on your toes in social situations, and practice your skills as much as possible. You will only get better and more comfortable with time.

Communicating with accuracy

- A 110 plug that requires grounding will not fit into an ungrounded outlet because there is no hole for the grounded prong. The system is engineered to be error-proof. Surgical trays with indentations for each instrument ensure that nothing get's left behind. It's a system engineered to be error-proof. And those online forms that require us to enter our password twice? Those are engineered for error-proofing. Now wouldn't it be nice if we could error-proof our own written work? In this week's communication tip we will identify seven ways you can move toward more flawless documents, which will prevent communication mishaps, and build your credibility. Select a few of these to try for yourself. First we need to have an attitude of accuracy. We must want to find errors. I know I'm in trouble when one of my students comes rushing into class a few minutes late, and hands in a paper still warm from the printer. I say, "Did you have a chance to proof this?" The student replies, "Uh, yeah. I read it on the way to class." Well, when you are on the way to class, and about to miss a deadline, you don't want to find an error. You hope the document is error free, and your eyes help you see what you want to see. If instead we give ourselves ample time for proofing, and then make a mental game out of finding the errors we're far more likely to catch our own mistakes. Next, put some time between when you write the original document, and when you proof. You've heard that adage that distance makes the heart grow warmer. Well distance also makes the eyes grow sharper. Third, try to proofread when you have minimal distractions. Close the door. Turn off your cell phone. Clear off your desktop. Hide unused cells in Excel spreadsheets when entering data. The fewer things to distract your eyes, the more focused you will be on the proofing. Frequently we see what we expect to see, rather than an error that slipped in. My fourth tip is to focus your eyes and your attention. You can use a 6 inch ruler, so your eyes don't scan ahead as we normally do when reading. Read aloud and slowly as you proof with your ruler. You can also increase your visual focus by practicing word searches. Focus your attention by reading through the draft multiple times, looking for something different in each read. Maybe the first reading is for grammar, and just grammar. Next read is for numerical accuracy. Third read could be for spelling of names. By the way, you can add frequently used names or places to your software dictionary. Once I was writing to Professor Klemkowski, and I saw that little red squiggly line under his name. I just ignored it because spellcheck wouldn't know the name Klemkowski, of course. I was mortified later when I realized I actually had misspelled his name. Add frequently used proper nouns to your dictionary. That way when you see the red squiggly, you'll pay attention. Next, you might also find it helpful to change the way the document appears just to shake things up, and stop that habit of seeing what we expect to see. You could highlight the entire document, and then proof. Or print it horizontal instead of portrait. Or even just slide the document into a colored report cover so that it appears different than you are accustomed to seeing it. Do use spell check, and grammar check, but don't be dependent on them. Lot's of mistakes, as you can see in these three sentences, can slip right by our automated proofers. Auto-corrects can be helpful, but nothing beats your eyes, and your brain for a great proofread. Last, but not least, another set of eyes is always a great strategy. On those really important documents ask someone else to proofread for you. We may never be completely flawless in our writing, but these tips certainly help engineer us to be more error-proof.