I have been doing a short course over the last few weeks by Conor Neill on Udemy.
It is about communication, and it has given me some tremendously valuable insights into communication.
Before I share some of what I learned I have to say that I am an evangelical fundamentalist when it comes to communication and its value in any small business. I say ‘small business’ because that is my primary focus, but its value can be seen (or not) in a multitude of situations which are not confined to business alone.
Anyway, the lightbulb moment for me was when I learned that effective communication is not about what you want to say. It is about what the other person or group needs to hear.
How do we know what they need to hear?
By active listening. Not passive, but active. Listening with the eyes about which I have written here.
The final piece in the jigsaw is storytelling and communicating with your audience.
I will deal with that in a separate blog post for storytelling is worth a blog post, and indeed a book, of its own.
But going back to communication, it is not too hard to see how valuable being skilled in communication can be to you in your everyday life, regardless of your personal life, career, or in your business.