Top 10 communication tips for work
Over the last five years, global communication expert, Jessica Chen has taught over 2 million people how to speak with clarity and confidence at work. Drawing from her experience as a former Emmy-Award Winning television journalist to now being one of the most popular communication experts in the world, she shares her top 10 communication tips for work.
In this week’s newsletter, Jessica Chen chats with marketing and communications specialist at Soulcast Media, Maria Hoey as she answers questions ranging from public speaking, developing executive presence, and advocating for yourself at work.
Below is a small snippet of their entire conversation held on our Soulcast Media | LIVE show on LinkedIn to celebrate the launch of Jessica’s new book, “Smart, Not Loud: How to Get Noticed at Work for All the Right Reasons.”. If you’d like to watch or listen to the entire interview, click below. The transcript has been slightly edited for reading ease.
📺 Watch the full live event here
🎙️ Listen to the Podcast episode here
🔗 Order the book, “Smart, Not Loud”
On Giving Great Presentations:
Jessica – For anyone preparing a workplace presentation, I want you to get crystal clear on these questions. Who am I presenting to? Who’s going to be there? And what do they care about? Write these questions down on a post-it note so you don’t forget it!
The answers to these questions are going to anchor your entire presentation. What I don’t want people to do is brain-dump everything all at one. No one is going to remember it, even though you are excited about the facts and data.
If you really want to give an impactful presentation in front of all kinds of audiences, you need to know who is there and what are the most essential points. In fact, keep it to two to three main takeaway points. Simplifying a complicated idea is the mark of a great public speaker, which everyone has the ability to be.
On Saying No at Work
Jessica – Saying no is arguably one of the hardest things to do. You want to show that you’re a team player, and you want to collaborate with others, but similarly, you have to set boundaries. If you don’t, others will assume you are just the yes person and they’ll assign you work that doesn’t accelerate your career growth.
I have a framework in “Smart, Not Loud” where there are three things I want you to think about when you do say no. Number one is your tone. Your tone of voice is very important because it can affect how your speaking is perceived.
The second one is explaining. The third one is following up with options.
Here’s an example, say: “Thank you so much for thinking of me for this project, but I can’t do this right now because I have a huge deadline that I need to finish by next week (explain), but circle back with me in about two weeks, and I might have more time (follow up with options).“
The idea is the impression you’re giving, which is you care, but you’re just not the person who can do it right now. Of course you have to be judicious with saying no and gauge: is this the right time to say no?
Sometimes depending on the situation, you just have to accept the project. The key is to still do it and do it well, but once you’re done, have a separate conversation with the person to let them know you’d like to focus your time on other tasks and projects that can equally help the team and business.
You can listen to the full 10 tips (plus some bonus frameworks) here:
📺 Watch the full live event here
🎙️ Listen to the Podcast episode here
🔗 Order the book, “Smart, Not Loud”
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