Advanced Communication
Advanced Communication
The relationship is the communication bridge between people.
– Alfred Kadushin
Introduction
During the entire course, we have learned a lot about communication. We would like to wrap things up with a brief discussion on a few advanced communication topics.
Every human encounter involves some type of communication. Nothing in business can be accomplished without good communication with employers, workers, clients, suppliers, and consumers. When you look at the world’s most successful businesspeople, you will see that they have mastered the art of communication. Despite the fact that effective communication skills are critical to achieving success in the job, many people feel that they have reached a limit in their ability to communicate and that they have hit a stumbling block in their advancement. They may find it difficult to accurately communicate their thoughts and ideas at times, which makes it difficult for them to reach their full potential as a communicator, a manager, and a leader. There is, however, hope for those who find advanced communication to be a challenge. These abilities may be developed via practice and education.
Basic versus advanced communication skills?
What would you say if someone asked you to define communication? The kinds of communication – talking or listening – will be familiar to most individuals. But communication is more than that. Communication is the process of conveying information from one person to another. Even yet, this isn’t a full description since successful communication requires that information be transmitted while maintaining the same substance and context. Have I communicated if I say one thing and you hear another?
Advanced communication is a genuine art form that needs a great deal of experience, refinement, and a skill set that is well above that of the normal individual.
The art and practice of developing and exchanging ideas is known as communication. The richness of such concepts is essential for effective communication.
Advanced communication skills combine fundamental communication abilities with a broad grasp of how the communication process works. When individuals grasp the complexities of human communication, they may learn to affect not just their own, but also the communication of others. As a result, superior communication skills are essentially leadership abilities. They provide you access to tools for guiding and directing communication between you and another person or group in order to accomplish your objectives.
Brief check
Whenever you are communicating with someone, whether it is a basic conversation, a problem-solving session, or a team meeting, try to find ways in which you are alike. Focusing on positive connections will help you build stronger relationships and better communication.
Advanced Communication Tools
We’ll look at some additional techniques for selecting phrases that assist the other person feel better rapport with you, that can help you take them beyond a stumbling block, and that allow you to manage the discussion without seeming to control it. These techniques are a kind of ‘artfully ambiguous’ language, which means they must be used with purpose in order to be successful.
Reframing: The process of changing the nature of an issue is known as reframing. It is the act of transforming a negative statement into a positive one by altering the “frame” or reference used to evaluate the event. If all meaning is context dependant, and you alter the context or content, the meaning will change. All material may be reframed simply by modifying the structure, approach, or context.
The foundation of any reframing is to distinguish between intention, conduct and outcome. Intentionis diametrically opposed to outcome. It is the manner in which an action or behavior is preceded, and the outcome is what occurs at the conclusion of the activity. Outcome may positive or negative.
You have various possibilities when it comes to rephrasing anything. You may redefine the language, change the time frame, investigate the implications, change the chunk size, find a counter-example, ask for proof, appeal to the good purpose behind the belief, and change the context so that the connection no longer applies.
Here’s an illustration. As you go through this course, assume you had the following thought:
Learning Communication Skills is difficult.
Rephrase the words:
You don’t have to study them; only get acquainted with them.
It isn’t difficult to learn them; it simply requires a bit more work.
Alter the time frame:
The faster you complete it, the easier it will seem.
You have plenty of time to practice and get acquainted with them.
Investigate the consequences:
You’ll never know how simple it can be until you attempt it.
If you don’t learn them, you won’t be as successful as you might be in communicating.
Modify the chunk size:
Is learning difficult in general?
Reduce the size How difficult is it to learn a single skill?
Find a contrasting example:
Is there ever a moment when you found learning…………..easy?
Have you ever had a situation where you felt something was difficult at first, but you finally figured it out?
Request proof:
What makes you think that?
Why do you think it’s difficult?
Appeal to the belief’s good intention:
I can see you’re eager to learn things, and I know you’re eager to enhance your communication abilities.
Change the context such that the connection no longer applies:
How difficult it is for you to learn is determined by who is instructing you.
You learnt to speak Japanese – that was difficult!
Mind reading — Using this skill, you use your word choice to suggest that you know what the other person is thinking. If you are correct, you have increased your rapport and it can deal with an issue before it is expressed. You may even get their cooperation by employing this kind of language, which can persuade the other person that they really feel the way you do. For example:
I understand you think this will be tough, but it will be worthwhile.
I appreciate your fear about the result, but your cautious planning will secure your success.
Many individuals, like you, believe that it is critical to display integrity in our job and product.
Lost Performativity — In this scenario, you are expressing a value judgment without defining who is evaluating. As a result, it is a neutral, easy-to-agree-upon phrase. The missing performativity is so named because there is no evidence of the source of the knowledge. You are really improving your capacity to maintain control of the discussion without taking and misinterpreting the other person’s point of view. For example:
It’s true that people prefer individuals who are similar to them.
It’s wonderful to know that the economy is improving.
Cause and effect connections – This may assist you to convey a message when you want the other person to see the impact of what you’re saying. For example:
Seeing you arrive late gives me the impression that you don’t care.
Coaching will help you master a variety of abilities.
Attendance at this meeting will result in changes.
Presupposition –It is anything that has not been expressed but is assumed to be present or true in order for your assertion to be understood. For example:
After we conclude your evaluation, you’ll be confident about the following six months (we’re assuming that confidence will come or that we’ll do something that will leave them feeling confident — all we have to do is finish the appraisal).
As the economy improves, earnings will rise (we are presupposing that the economy will pick up eventually).
Universal beliefs – Declaring anything to be a universal belief means that there are no exceptions to what you are stating. You may utilize universal beliefs to persuade the other to accept or agree with what you’re saying. – Everyone wants to be happy at work. – If you stay optimistic, you’ll get greater outcomes.
Using tag questions, you may persuade the other person to think about what you said and then answer it in their head. Because we can think around five times quicker than we can say, this may be useful in reaching an agreement. For example:
Doesn’t our market share increase as we take more action?
You’ve learnt a lot more by paying closer attention, haven’t you?
Embedded commands – They are exactly what they sound like: a command in your language that does not really direct anyone to do anything. These are phrases that communicate to the subconscious and are part of a bigger context. For example:
So, does looking at your priorities help you feel better now? (‘Feel better now,’ is the embedded command).
It’s a good thing you’ve resolved to complete that report by 2 p.m. (Embedded command is that you’ve determined – complete it by 2pm).
You should now have a full toolbox full of tools to help you enhance your communication abilities. Remember that learning these abilities takes time, but the time and effort you put in will soon be repaid with stronger relationships – both at work and outside of it.
Brief check
Framing your message appropriately can greatly increase the power of your communication.
Recognize Predisposing Factors – For many people, life is like a snowball. On a particularly good day, everything may go your way and make you feel like you’re on top of the world. But on a bad day, unfortunate events can likewise snowball, increasing their negative effect exponentially.
For example, imagine how each of these events would make you feel if they happened to you first thing in the morning.
- You encounter construction on the way to work.
- Your alarm clock doesn’t go off and you wake up late.
- You are out of coffee.
- The cafeteria line is very long.
Each of those things is potentially responsible for creating a crummy morning. Now, imagine this scenario:
You wake up and realize your alarm clock hasn’t gone off and you’re already late. You get up and go to turn the coffee pot on, but you realize that there is no coffee left in your house. Then, you shower and head out the door – only to encounter construction and massive traffic back-ups on the way to work. Now you’re 15 minutes late instead of five. You get to work and head to the cafeteria for some much-needed coffee, but the line stretches out the door.
With the addition of each event, your morning just gets worse and worse. For most people, this is a recipe for disaster – the first person that crosses them is likely to get an earful!
Successful communicators are excellent at identifying precipitating factors and adjusting their approach before the communication starts, or during it. Understanding the power of precipitating factors can also help you de-personalize negative comments.This does not mean that someone having a bad day gets to dump on everyone around them; it does mean, however, that the person being dumped on can take it less personally and help the other person work through their problems.
Creating a Common Platform – Finding common ties can be a powerful communication tool. Think of those times when a stranger turns out not to be a stranger – that the person next to you on the train grew up in the same town that you did, or that the co-worker you never really liked enjoys woodworking as much as you do.
Whenever you are communicating with someone, whether it is a basic conversation, a problem-solving session, or a team meeting, try to find ways in which you are alike. Focusing on positive connections will help you build stronger relationships and better communication.
Framing your message – Framing your message appropriately can greatly increase the power of your communication.
How would you react to these statements?
- Your outfit is too casual for this meeting.
- You mumble all the time.
- You’re really disorganized.
Most people would feel insulted and criticized by these statements – and rightly so! They are framed in a way that puts blame on the receiver. These statements can even give the impression that the speaker feels superior to the receiver.
Instead of starting a sentence with “you,” try using the “I message” instead for feedback. This format places the responsibility with the speaker, makes a clear statement, and offers constructive feedback.
The format has three basic parts:
- Objective description of the behavior
- Effect that the behavior is causing on the speaker
- The speaker’s feelings
Here is an example: “Sometimes, you speak in a very low voice. I often have difficulty hearing you when you speak at that volume. It often makes me feel frustrated.”
Be careful not to start the sentence with some form of, “When you…” This tends to create feelings of blame and injustice.
Conclusion
There is a difference between being a decent communicator and an advanced communicator — advanced communication is a genuine art form, which takes practice, dexterity, and a skill set that exceeds that of the typical individual. To communicate effectively, it is necessary to understand how communication works, how to explain precisely what it is that you want to say, which form of communication is most effective, and what elements are impacting your capacity to send and receive messages with aplomb.
Adding these skills to your toolbox and using them regularly will make you a more efficient and effective, communicator.
Practical Application
A joint venture with another company was the focus of Robert and Jeremy’s job as business partners at a huge firm at the time. Even though they were on their way to a meeting with the proprietors of a possible joint venture firm, Robert felt unprepared to interact with total strangers, and he expressed his worries to his partner. They should apply the strategy of Establishing Common Ground, according to Jeremy, since common ground develops a channel of communication that leads to the establishment of trust.
Jeremy recalled that he had used the approaches several times in meetings or business events, and that they had been successful. The themes he discussed included leisure activities and other issues that allow for the interchange of common experience and understanding, so making everyone feel more comfortable. Robert decided to give this approach a try and asked Jeremy if they might practice on each other first before proceeding.
Robert and Jeremy spent the majority of the journey over to the building rehearsing asking questions about their backgrounds and providing hypothetical replies to those inquiries. Both partners came to the meeting prepared to speak boldly with their possible temporary partners, and they were pleased with the outcome after they had secured the joint venture and advanced their individual businesses.
