What has balance got to do with speaking? Whilst it is a good idea to keep your balance when walking up to the stage, tripping is not good for your credibility, poise and confidence, the balance I advocate is when you are putting together your speeches, presenting them and in your communication.
In your speeches, I’m looking at the balance between intellectual content and emotional connection and in your communication, the balance between conversation and communication.
Balance between Conversation and Communication
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” George Bernard Shaw
I have found one of the reasons for this arises from confusing conversation with communication and not knowing when to switch from one to the other. When you understand the difference and know when to shift then you are in balance.
We are all having conversations from the time we start speaking. Our conversations are about relationships – becoming friends, becoming partners. We often withhold information, stretch the truth, exaggerate and even tell little white lies.
We can colour our conversation with metaphors and similes to be polite or less confrontational when discussing sensitive topics. We might say “my dear friend passed away last night” when we actually mean that the friend has died.
When it comes to business communication needs to be clear, concise and most important of all it must be correct to maintain credibility. If you aren’t clear and concise problems arise; which is what happens when we use conversational skills to create business answers. It doesn’t work. Used within the business environment conversational style communication can create chaos – at best it leads to misunderstanding and mistakes.
There is a place for both – you just need to know when to use conversation and when to switch to clear communication. In fact if you use only conversation or only business communication you will still have miscommunication. Good sales people are great at this. They will use conversation to build that relationship with the client then when they are ready to go into the sales pitch it becomes clear concise business communication.
Maintaining the Balance in Effective Speaking and Communication
Business Communication has a definite outcome. It needs to be both informative and connective. You need to be able to demonstrate the accuracy of your ideas, information and product abilities. At the same time you need to create an emotional connection with your listeners that encourages them to want to connect with you. If you fail to achieve this balance you will fail to achieve your aim.
The three main reasons why you communicate in Business are:
- To Inform – to transmit information
- To Instruct – to tell how things work, what needs to be done, and
- To Inspire – to enthuse, to convince and motivate.
If you place more emphasis on the Information, you can overwhelm your listeners with the facts and figures. If you don’t have the emotional connection with them they are left with the feeling “It works! Why should I care? What’s in it for me?”
However, if you concentrate on only the emotional connection with them, you can leave them charged and ready to go – but unsure of what exactly it was you wanted them to do. Many motivational speakers can fall into this trap.
Trischel’s formula for success is:
EBC = Ic + Ecn
Where ‘EBC’ = Effective Business Communication; ‘Ic’ is the Informational Content, and ‘Ecn’ is the Emotional Connection.
To be an effective speaker and communication you need a balance between the information/intellectual content and the emotional connection. Information or Instructing also needs to include Inspiration. Making that personal connection with your listeners will bring them to see how your information affect them and leads to your desired outcome.
It doesn’t have to be an equal balance as long as each speech, each presentation and each communication has components of information and emotion.
It’s all about maintaining that balance – balance between conversation and communication and balance between information and emotion.
Get the balance right and you will be speaking for success in your business, in your career and in your life.
Are you maintaining your balance?
Don’t forget to download you copy of 10 Free Tips For Improving Your Presentation
Trish Springsteen
Multi International Award Winner Speaking Mentor Coach Author Radio Host
Clients work with Trish because they know she can help them have the confidence and self-belief to leverage their business with speaking and communication. Trish typically works with introverts, authors and advocates helping them to have the confidence to step up and share their message with those who need to hear it.
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