Communication Tips To Stand Out
We all want to stand out in the workplace. Whether we want to be seen as a candidate for a promotion or we want our ideas to be heard. According to a recent study, 74% of employees report they are more effective at their job when they feel heard. Being seen and heard, essentially standing out at work, is critical for career success.
Our CEO and Founder, Jessica Chen, recently hosted a Soulcast Media | LIVE event on LinkedIn, where she spoke about communication tips to stand out in the workplace. She shared personal stories on how being a strategic communicator can help us stand out in the workplace.
World Of Dualities
During the Soulcast Media | LIVE, Jessica shared about living in a world of dualities. She said we are told to speak up at work, contribute our thoughts, and get involved. However, sometimes when we do this, we are told we are seen unfavorably, judged more harshly, and given busy work. To move out of this world of dualities and gain visibility at work, we need to be strategic in our communications. Being strategic will transform how we show up, what we say, and how we say it.
1. Reframe your limiting beliefs
To be strong communicators, we need to get away from any limiting beliefs we may have. Limiting beliefs are judgments we make about our abilities that prevent us from feeling confident, and reaching our full potential.
Consider the following:
- Limiting Beliefs – The thoughts we think about ourselves are often limiting beliefs. For example, we may think we can’t lead an international team. Or we believe we will fail if we try to get a promotion. The danger is when we believe these thoughts to be true. This is why it is critical to reframe any limiting beliefs we have about ourselves.
- Labeling – Labeling is how we can reframe any of these limiting beliefs. When these negative thoughts pop into our minds, we need to give them a name, or a label to reframe them. For example, if we have a recurring negative thought about our leadership capabilities, we can label this thought as turnips, because we don’t like to eat turnips. Then, when this negative thought pops ups, we can recognize this as the turnips talking, and pivot our thoughts to more positive ones.
- Turn Thoughts Into Questions – For most of us, limiting thoughts can cripple us from speaking up or taking a new opportunity. However, these thoughts are usually statements. Instead, we can turn these statements into questions. For example, if we think we will fail, we can ask ourselves, “How do we know we will fail?” When we do this, we can answer the question by saying, “Maybe we won’t fail. Maybe we will get the promotion.” Turning statements into questions can help us reframe limiting thoughts.
Limiting beliefs can often prevent us from being our best, so it is critical for us to reframe these beliefs.
2. Speak To Convince
Whether we realize it or not, most of the time, when we are speaking with our manager or team, we are speaking to convince. We may want to ask for a raise or start a new initiative. Most of the time, we try to persuade someone to agree with our ideas.
Consider the following:
- Quantitative-Driven Point – Quantitive-driven points use data and metrics to persuade. For example, if we want to convince our boss to give us a raise, we could use quantitative points to showcase why we deserve a raise. We could say, “This year, we exceeded our sales goal by 20% and secured three new annual contracts.” The sales goal and the number of contracts are all quantitative-driven points. They are facts our boss can review.
- Emotional-Driven Point – Emotional-driven points use more emotional qualities to persuade. For example, if we want to ask our boss for a raise, we can use emotional language to help them see how critical a raise is to us. We could say, “This year, we were tasked with a lofty sales goal. No one has ever surpassed this goal, but we not only hit our goal, but we also went beyond everyone’s expectations. We also were excellent with client relations. All of our clients loved working with us.” Emotional language is a great way to persuade others to see things from our vantage point.
- Combination Driven Point – When speaking to convince, we want to be strategic in our communications. This means using both the quantitative and emotionally driven points together. For example, if our restaurant got a five-star review, we could say, “We can tell our customers love us by our five-star reviews.” Or if we lost several annual contracts, we could say, “We were shocked by three of our clients canceling their annual contracts.” If we only used quantitative points, we would say, “Our restaurant got a five-star review.” Or “We lost three annual contracts.” If we only used emotional points, we would say, “Our customers love us.” Or, “We were shocked our clients canceled their contracts.” Our statements are more powerful when we combine the quantitative and emotional data points.
If we want to speak to convince, we must ensure our communications are quantitative and emotional.
3. Public Speaking
When thinking about giving a presentation, we want to focus on what will make our presentation memorable. When we focus on what will provide us with the most ROI, we can be sure our presentations will be powerful.
Consider the following:
- The Start – When we prepare for our presentation, one way to start is with a story. A story can bring a concept to life. Stories make ideas relatable. For example, using a real-life example is one way to accentuate the point we are trying to make. If we give a presentation about our products, we can tell a story about a customer experience. Using a story can help draw them in right from the start.
- The Transitions – We want to maintain fluidity as our presentation moves forward. To do this, we can use transition words to fill silences. For example, if we click on the next slide, we can say, “This brings us to our next point.” Or “We can also see..” Instead of transitioning in silence between slides, we connect each slide to maintain fluidity.
- The End – It is important to consider how we can make our presentation memorable. There are several ways to do this. If we started with a story, we can end with a story. This will give our presentation a full-circle moment. We can also give our audience a clear call to action. This will give the audience something to do when the presentation is finished.
Our presentations will be powerful when we focus on making them memorable and maintaining fluidity.
To stand out in the workplace, we must communicate strategically.
Check out Jessica’s Youtube Channel if you want to see the full LIVE version of this LIVE.
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