What are the guiding principles for successful communication?

What are the guiding principles for successful communication?

Strategic communications lecturer Matt Abrahams shares his top guiding principles for successful communication.

When presenting to a large audience, tailoring the message to a target group within the larger audience or scaffolding the information can be effective strategies.

It’s also important to practice and test different ways to start a presentation or meeting to see what resonates best with the audience.

Feedback should be seen as an opportunity for problem-solving and collaboration.

It is important to approach it with a calm and non-defensive attitude, phrasing it as questions and inviting the other person to interact and collaborate.

Making a good first impression involves being mindful of how you present yourself, being genuine, and being attentive to the other person.

The approach should depend on the audience, using data for technical audiences, starting with a story or joke for general audiences, and being authentic to yourself.

Virtual communication requires being concise and clear due to increased distractions.

It also requires finding ways to engage participants since physical cues are absent.

The challenge lies in balancing hybrid settings with some participants in the room and others on Zoom.

Virtual communication has mandated that we be more concise and clear and we have to be more engaging. – Matt Abrahams

Many of us make the mistake when it comes to communication of starting with what we want to say rather than thinking about what our audience needs to hear. – Matt Abrahams

Structuring your message using a format like the ‘what, so what, now what’ structure can help engage your audience and give your communication momentum.

Understanding the expectations and background of a large audience can be challenging.

However, doing reconnaissance, reflection, and research can help gather necessary information.

When giving feedback, it’s important to manage emotions and approach the person with questions instead of accusations.

This reduces defensiveness and invites collaboration.

Virtual communication is here to stay.

The challenge will be adapting to hybrid settings with some participants in the room and others on Zoom, while maintaining concise, clear, and engaging communication.