Professional Communication Archives | Page 5 of 5

How Much Do Poor Communication Skills Really Cost?

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TOP TEN RISKS TO A COMPANY WITH INEFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION:

Inability to attract qualified job applicants.
Poor hiring decisions.
Miscommunication of key information resulting in either rework or errors.
Staff burnout due to low morale and lack of motivation.
Reduced staff retention and subsequent increased staff turnover.
Inability to meet critical deadlines.
Costly purchasing errors with vendors.
Damage to company image and loss of revenue.
Frustration among internal customers which leads to downtime.
Misperceptions and frustrations among external customers which equates to dissatisfied customers.

As you can deduce from the preceding top ten risks, ineffective communication is generally not limited to one or two situations or a few employees. Rather it can start out on a small scale and if left unattended, can have a spiraling effect across departments. This can manifest itself in a pervasive company problem, which often leads to finger pointing […]

2022-04-22T08:33:40-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Professional Communication|Tags: business, communication, communication skills, executive presence, image, interviews, maximizing potential, quality, technique, why you need communication skills|Comments Off

Can A Smile Change Your Day?

fun-20008_1280 CJ McClanahan, President of Reachmore Strategies is our guest blogger today. To learn more about Reachmore Strategies please check out their website: http://www.goreachmore.com/

Can a smile really change your entire day?

I would argue that for many (if not most) of us the answer is yes! Consider what is going on in the workplace today. Much of our communication is being reduced to email, instant messages, texts and now even “tweets”.

As a direct result, we have less and less meaningful face to face communication with actual human beings. So, when we do (even if you aren’t a social person) we crave the personal interaction. In addition, we tend to pay attention to less of what we hear out of their mouths as what we see in their appearance and expressions.

Consider the following scenario…

You have a 5 minute meeting with your […]

2022-04-22T08:33:41-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Leadership Presence, Professional Communication|Tags: business, can a smile change your day, communication, ethics, interview, smile, technique, why is smiling important, why listening is important, why should you smile more|Comments Off

Capitalize on Social Opportunities

In a crowded room you should see a bubble over each person’s head that reads “OPPORTUNITY!” in big bold letters.

2022-04-22T08:33:41-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Leadership Presence, Professional Communication|Tags: business, communication, conversation, executive presence, exercise, habit, how to be a better networker, how to be memorable, how to meet more people at social events, how to network, how to network better, Public Speaking, social events, talking, technique|Comments Off

Listening is a Sign of Respect

listening-157386_1280 Think of your last conversation. If you remember what you said more clearly than what you heard, you probably need to work on your listening skills.

Listening is a sign of respect. It shows that you value what the speaker has to say. If you take the time to listen to someone, take the time to listen properly. Set aside what you are doing so you can focus on the speaker, showing them that they are important to you. This will encourage the speaker to crystallize his message instead of giving you a shortened and vague version. If you continue to focus on your work, you may miss key gestures or facial expressions that may indicate the speaker’s true feelings differ from his words.

It’s not always easy to focus on what a speaker is trying to say, especially if he has distracting idiosyncrasies. […]

2022-04-22T08:33:41-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Professional Communication|Tags: business, communication, conversation, fillers, habit, how to listen, how to listen better, how to work on listening skills, interview, interviews, listening, listening skills, technique, why listening is important, why you should listen|Comments Off

Stuttering: Advice for Listeners

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Often, people are unsure about how to respond when talking to people who stutter. This uncertainty can cause listeners to do things like look away during moments of stuttering, interrupt the speaker or fill in words, or simply not talk to people who stutter at all. None of these reactions is particularly helpful, though. In general, people who stutter want to be treated just like anybody else. They recognize-in fact, they may be acutely aware-that their speech is different and that it takes them longer to say things. Unfortunately, though, this sometimes leads the speaker to feel pressure to speak quickly. Under such conditions, people who stutter often have even more difficultly saying what they want to say in a smooth, timely manner. Thus, listener reactions that suggest impatience or annoyance may actually make it harder for people who stutter to speak.

When […]

2022-04-22T08:33:41-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Professional Communication|Tags: communication, conversation, how to help someone who stutters, how to stop stuttering, listening, stuttering, stuttering tips, technique, tips for stuttering, voice problem|1 Comment

What is Stuttering?

Stuttering is a communication disorder that affects the rhythm or “fluency” of speech. It begins during childhood and, in some cases, persists throughout llife. The disorder is characterized by disruptions (or “dysfluencies”) in the production of speech sounds. Most speakers produce brief dysfluencies in speech from time to time. For instance, some words are repeated and others are preceded by interjections such as “um.” Dysfluencies are not necessarily problematic; however, they can impede communication when a speaker produces too many of them or they are drawn out and lengthy.

Many of us find we’re out of breath or anxious when speaking in front of an audience. Speakers who stutter exhibit excessive physical tension in the throat, mouth, and jaw and may appear to be unable to recover from the tension when talking. At times, the forward flow […]

2022-04-22T08:33:41-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Professional Communication|Tags: articulate clearly, breathe, communication, conversation, how to prevent stuttering, preventing stuttering, Public Speaking, speech, stuttering, talk fast, talking, technique, tips to prevent stuttering, voice problem, what is stuttering|Comments Off

Sound Like You Mean It On the Phone

Modern_Smart_Phone Remember: when selling by phone, 84% of the message is conveyed by the quality of the voice and the intelligibility of the speech. Pitch, tone, inflection, and pronunciation matter!

The customer uses “Credibility Detectors”. These sensors in the brain are activated by tone of voice and body language; not words. They give us important information about the speaker’s sincerity, integrity, and emotional intelligence (EQ). Some people equate this to the “gut-level hunch” we often sense.

HOW you say your message makes all the difference. And there is an art to this. Before you head off to that next big call, think about the feeling you want to leave with your customer; the emotion you want to share. For example, consider that you might want to start with a warm, friendly message and follow up with a confident, powerful, or influential message.

Each feeling you want to […]

2022-04-22T08:33:42-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Leadership Presence, Professional Communication|Tags: business, how to exude presence over the phone, interview, Make Over Your Voice, messages, phone skills, professional communication over the phone, Public Speaking, speech, verbal techniques|1 Comment

Getting Out Of Your Comfort Zone

By guest blogger, Scott Emmett. Scott is a client of Accent On Business.

I don’t think I’m going to like this, I said to myself. I was having one of my early sessions with Ellen Dunnigan, my newly acquired speech coach. We were just the two of us in a room and she wanted me to give a speech that was going to push me out of my comfort zone. I did not like this one bit. No sir, not one bit. Told her so and further informed her that I was not ready for this. She just sat there and stared at me. Did not have any choice but to suck it up and get on with it. It was not one of my better experiences but, at the end of the day, I got past what proved to be one of the larger […]

2022-04-22T08:33:42-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Professional Communication, Public Speaking|Tags: comfort zone, ellen dunnigan, fear of public speaking, Public Speaking, public speaking coach, public speaking fear, scott emmett, speech, voice|Comments Off

Tips for Creating Professional Video Blogs

Watched a few local business video blogs last week. Certainly the blogs allow for the dissemination of information and quick messaging to staff and to customers. The words we heard were all good messages. You and I both know, though, that communication follows the “93/7 Rule”. 7% of what is communicated comes from the words chosen. A full 93% comes from the image left behind from body language, nonverbals, facial expressions, and inflection (tone of voice). In our office, we’ve certainly seen the need to provide more seminars on how to create impressive videos. We had a video wall from GSEAV installed and everyone loves it. Watch for details; however, here are a few thoughts which may guide your next videos.

“Shakey Cam” may be good for personal videos to friends and family, especially if you and they are young(ish). Not so much for business. Seriously, think […]

2022-04-22T08:33:42-04:00By Ellen Dunnigan|Categories: Leadership Presence, Professional Communication, Public Speaking, Videos|Tags: blogs, business, executive presence, image, Professional Communication, professional video blogs, Public Speaking, speaking, video, video blogs, videos for professionals|Comments Off