Communications Confidence At Work

Key Takeaways

Our CEO and Founder, Jessica Chen, recently hosted a Soulcast Media | LIVE event on LinkedIn, where she took top communications questions and gave tips and tricks on how to gain communications confidence at work. 

Here are the takeaways for VIP Comm Pass members:

• When it comes to public speaking, nerves often happen because our environment is different.
• Before you give your presentation, take a few moments to sit silently and breathe. This can calm your mind, pulse, and butterflies.
• Practice positive self-talk and remind yourself that you're prepared for your presentation.
• When presenting, don't focus on their titles, no matter who your audience is. Instead, think about having a conversation with each person. Humanize the experience.
• When crafting your presentation, consider your audience and what they care about.
• Make sure you are tailoring your presentation to your audience.
• Presentation framework:
  • "I'm so thrilled to be here with you today." This is a great way to start your presentation and sets the tone.
  • "I will be talking about A,B, and C." This sets the stage so people know what you will talk about.
  • "I've divided my time into 3 main parts." These are the 3 things you want people to take away from your presentation.
  • "My hope is that at the end of my talk, everybody here will walk away with a solid understanding and a clear roadmap." This helps people understand what they'll get out of it.
  • When someone interrupts you, you can say, "John, I hear what you are saying, but let me finish my point, and then we will get to your thoughts." Acknowledge them, but be sure to finish your point.
  • If the person continues to interrupt you, you may need to have a one-on-one meeting and address them with specific examples of what they've done and how it made you feel.
  • If speaking up in a meeting is difficult for you, challenge yourself to speak up within the first 5-10 minutes.
  • Speaking up in a meeting is having people hear and see you. This is especially important if you work remotely - you want to stay top of mind.
  • The best way to ask for something you want at work is to ask for it from the other person's point of view. You have to be able to show why the other person should care. Typically, the other person will care if you can show the value it will bring to the team or organization.
  • When it comes to following up, you care about it the most out of everybody else. You have to get into the mindset of saying it twice. 
  • Small talk is an opportunity for you to get to know somebody else. You engage in small talk to fish for information so you can get to know other people.
  • The best way to improve your communications is to start learning. LinkedIn learning, e-courses, tutorials, and podcasts are great places to start.

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*As a VIP Communications Pass holder, you get access to these show notes we’ve organized for you, so you’ll always remember what was shared. No worries if you didn’t take down notes. This is for you to keep!*