So far in our Better Communication series we’ve discussed honing our writing skills, public speaking skills, and conversational skills. Today with Tip 5 we will again focus on conversational skills—because the simple truth is that for most of us conversation makes up a huge percentage of our regular communication!
In a way, this fifth tip is a combination of Tips 2 and 3 (“Learn From the Pros,” and “Observe Others”); Tip 5 is: Converse with Those You Admire.
Michael Thompson suggests reaching out on a weekly basis to people whose work you admire. Try to set up a time to converse with and learn from them. He explains:
“Proactively putting yourself in front of people you admire will force you to do your homework and prepare interesting questions. It will also be a crash-course in effective-listening and it will speed up your learning curve regarding how to ask engaging follow-up questions. Not only that but when the conversation turns in your direction each time you speak with someone new you’ll be much more comfortable talking about your values, experiences and future plans.”
Thompson notes that not only will this help you prepare for and conduct interesting conversations, but it will also help you hone your “outreach skills,” as you craft written or verbal messages in your efforts to connect with others.
Personally, I feel as though I have “never met a stranger”—meaning, I make friends with everyone I talk to! I love to meet and converse with new people, and am forever making self-deprecating jokes and trying to elicit smiles and put people at ease. However, I know not everyone shares my outgoing personality. So for the less-outgoing people among us, this Tip is likely the most difficult of all.
Tip 1 was about writing, Tip 2 was about watching videos of speeches and presentations, Tip 3 was about observing others and how they communicate, and Tip 4 was about recording and reviewing yourself speaking. This tip, Tip 5, requires putting yourself out there and proactively and intentionally connecting with and conversing with strangers. As intimidating as that might be, I have no doubt that this particular tip would be of considerable value to all who put it into practice!
How about you, are you willing to give it a try?
