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Communicating for Results
Crystalize your key messages and communicate them regularly.
Use new employee orientations as an opportunity for brand, culture and business education. The more employees know and understand the business, the better they perform their jobs.
Define goals and expectations in relevant, actionable terms. Regularly report progress and recognize the efforts of individuals and teams.
Ensure leaders model the behaviors they want employees to follow.
Adopt a Vision/Mission/Values-based leadership approach to gain employee gut commitment to the success of the company.
Marketing Products
Understand and leverage all key differentiators.
Integrate activities to reinforce a consistent message and reach target audiences repeatedly.
Be true to your brand in all that you do.
Educate your employees to serve as an extension of your sales force.
Find satisfied customers who can tell your story best.
Translate the customer experience in meaningful easy to grasp explanations.
Managing Change
Address the "what about me?" questions first or you'll risk losing your audience. It's hard to "hear" the rationale for change and future vision when your job may be at risk.
Respectfully acknowledge what's worked in the past. Focus on the reasons your future success requires a different approach.
Don't create an information vacuum. Employees will fill it with creative rumors that zap productivity.
Earn trust by meeting your commitments to provide updates even when there's nothing new to report or there's a delay in making key decisions.
Don't expect people to believe you if your actions don't match your words. You can bet they will be watching your every move.
Public Speaking
Never admit that you're nervous or feeling ill prepared. You don't gain any points with your audience.
Don't fret over forgetting to say something.... your audience will never know.
Know your introduction and closing comments by heart. A strong start and finish can compensate for flaws in the middle.
Answer a question by looking at the entire audience, not just the person who asked. The goal is to keep the group engaged and avoid starting a dialogue with one individual.
End the Q&A session by summarizing your key point. Most speakers just say "thank you," and miss the opportunity to reinforce their message.
TV Interviews
Frame your message in terms that benefit customers. You can never go wrong.
People channel surf and listen selectively.Use positive language at all times to make the best impression.
Have a single key message to deliver. Reinforce it often during brief interviews. It greatly improves the chances your ideal soundbite will air.
Don't sit in a chair that swivels or rolls. Your nervous energy could become instantly visible.
Don't assume the interview is over until you've left the studio. Casual conversation can make its way into a story. Sometimes the camera is still rolling or the audio is on.
Instilling Values
Model the behaviors you want others to emulate.
Use stories and examples to reinforce the important role that Values play in the way you conduct business.
Check to ensure your actions will be aligned with stated company Values before making decisions.
Incorporate the language of your company Values into daily business conversation to make these concepts real and relevant.
Ask Values-related interview questions to hire people who fit your corporate culture.
Leadership Communications
Seize every opportunity to reinforce company goals, strategies and Values to keep employees focused on the right things.
Create a two-way dialogue with employees to ensure they understand the company direction and have a forum for providing ideas and information to help ensure its continued success.
Make your message relevant to every audience by addressing the "so what" and "why should I care" questions from the perspective of your listeners.
Choose the topics you emphasize carefully as they end up setting the agenda for what's perceived as being most important to the business.
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