As a team leader, your goal is to have your team, colleagues and executives view you as a credible leader who makes good business decisions. Unfortunately, today’s technology inundates people with so much information that it can be difficult to get people’s attention. Between e-mails, voicemails, and text messages, information tends to run together, making it difficult for you to stand out from the crowd.
In order to create a higher level of impact for yourself, consider implementing these four key strategies for every communication.
1. Maintain proper eye contact.
Good eye contact occurs when you look at one person in the audience for a sustained thought. A sustained thought is the length of time it takes you to deliver a complete sentence or when punctuation would produce a natural break in thought, which typically takes about 3-5 seconds. Take your time with individuals in the room. Look for nonverbal confirmation or confusion from them. This will validate that you are connecting.
2. Communicate to the listener’s needs and goals.
Too many people give information without explaining why the information is good for their audience. With the information overload people are experiencing today, it is important to tell others why they should pay attention to what you have to offer. If you’re speaking face-to-face with people, tell them in the opening sentence of your conversation why they need to listen to you. If you’re communicating via e-mail, make your subject line creative and decisive. Always lead with what’s important to your audience.
3. Shorten your e-mails, conversations and meetings.
According to various studies, the average professional receives more than 75 e-mails per day. That doesn’t include all the text messages and voicemails they’re getting or all the meetings they’re attending. Information is coming in from all sides. This means that in order for your information to sink in, you need to be short, concise and decisive. If you communicate in this way, people will be more likely to remember you and your message. In e-mails, use bullet points or numbered lists to make important information stand out. In meetings, use an agenda that you can pass out to everyone and refer to it while communicating.
4. Dress the Part.
Dressing the part is the fastest way to change your image. More companies are shifting back to business dress or are enforcing their business casual dress code. While this varies by company, the general premise stays the same. If you want to be viewed as credible, you have to look credible. No matter what your company’s dress code, the following tips will help keep you on the right track:
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Women: Consider wearing a jacket. If you aren’t wearing a jacket, don’t wear a sleeveless shirt. Don’t wear tight clothes or strappy shoes. The fabrics you choose should be wool blends or cotton blends that minimize wrinkles and look neat. Avoid lace and jeans.
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Men: Please iron your clothes. If you wear a jacket, it needs to fit properly. Make sure your shoes are polished. Don’t wear sports-themed clothing.
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