Tips on being a better communicator:
No matter if we have an audience of one or thousands, whether our communication is spoken or written, take care in how you communicate so our message is received.  It is critical to know the audience, balance what we have to say with what they want to hear, use simple language, use the right method of communication, share personal antidotes and illustrations, begin strongly and end with emotion, tell them, tell them, tell them and make it memorable.
Doing so will help achieve our desired result: Message Received and Understood.

Food for thought:  We are all communicators.  Take steps to assure that your message is getting through.

Tips on being a better communicator:
Make it Memorable. 
One of the best ways to help people remember your message is through using a word picture.  Winston Churchill did this when he described a communist world that lay behind an “iron curtain.” Hillary Clinton speculated about a “vast, right-wing conspiracy.”  President George W. Bush spoke of an “axis of evil.”   Word pictures are effective because they grab and direct attention and lock thoughts into our memory.  A call to action can be greatly enhanced by the creative use of a word picture.

Other visual devices are also effective in helping us communicate.  An often repeated statistic states that: people remember 40% of what they hear and see, 30% of what they see, 20% of what they hear, and only 10% of what they read. Always reinforce your spoken or written message with something that evokes a mental memory, either through a word picture or a visual image.
 

Tips on being a better communicator:
Tell them, Tell them, Tell them.
A savvy public speaker once shared his formula for effective communication with me.  He said, “Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them you told them.”  In other words: 

• Preview the message.  Summarize what you have to say and why it is important.
• Present the message: Give the body or details of your message.
• Recap the message: Briefly repeat your message and restate its importance.

Repetition is critical to effective communication because, even though we have two ears, we still miss a lot.
 

Tips on being a better communicator:
Begin Strongly and End with Emotion.
Jump in with both feet with your first words.  It’s o.k. to appear totally sold-out to your message. Enthusiasm demands attention. Don’t worry if you appear a little fanatical.  Remember, a fanatic is only someone who believes in something a little more strongly then you do.  The reason people respond to such passion is because much of life is so predictable and mundane. Make them feel alive!  Oh, they may think you’re a little nuts -- but that never stopped me.

As you close your talk or write the last paragraph speak from your heart.  Tell them why this is so important to you.  Tell them why this is the right action and why you are committed to it no matter what it takes.  Let them know how you feel, why it is worth taking the risk and how things will be better.  Your passion and emotion will motivate your audience to action. 

Tips on being a better communicator:
Share Personal Antidotes and Illustrations.
If you want to get the attention of an audience and hold their attention, then tell a story.
Storytelling is the most powerful means of communication known to man because it’s personal and memorable.  Storytelling was critical before people could read and write. It is still runs deep in our DNA.  Similar to storytelling, sharing a personal antidote or illustration can also engage an audience.  This can endear you to the listener because it makes you more real. The listener thinks, “He’s just like me.” Whether storytelling, sharing antidotes or illustrations, the result is that the audience’s defenses go down; their attention goes up and they will absorb more of your communication.

Tips on being a better communicator:
Use the Right Method of Communication
Should what you have to say be delivered in person or through a letter, memo or email?

It is best to communicate in-person when you are trying to persuade, when you want an immediate indication of response, when you are praising performance or when dealing with a matter of discipline. 

It is best to communicate in writing when you have a complicated matter to present, when the audience will need time for evaluation, when you are setting policy, or when an in-person meeting is impossible.
  

Tips on being a better communicator:
Use Simple Language.
Why do we use big words?  Do they make us feel smart?  Do they cover-up insecurity?  Whatever the reason, using complicated language to demonstrate competence is our enemy.  It is a certain way to lose the audience’s attention.  Here are three things to keep in mind when considering which words to use.

• Big words are out. All great speeches, advertisements and modern persuasive writing use common everyday language.
• An audience adores someone who can make something complicated seem very simple.  If you have a complex or technical message to communicate first try it out on the most junior person you can to evaluate if it communicates.
• Get to the main point fast.  If you don’t, you’ll lose your audience. 

Tips on being a better communicator:
Balance What You Have to Say with What They Want to Hear.
I was running a publishing company when a mentor told me “George, communication occurs when you balance what you want to say with what the audience wants to hear.”   He was pointing out the problem that when we prepare for a one-on-one meeting, a speech, or written communication we tend to focus on what we want to say and what we want the receiver to do - to the exclusion of considering their needs.  

Your message will fail if you neglect to take into account the needs of the reader or listener.  Ask yourself: what are their needs and what is it that would make them more successful?  Put yourself in their shoes and consider: how does the message sound, what’s in it for them, how does it improve their life and how are they inspired?  Again, consider testing the message on a select few just in case you have missed something that could derail you. 
 

Tips on being a better communicator:
Know Your Audience.
Do you know your audience?  Really?  Who are the key people you want to persuade?  Have you had casual conversation to assess their temperature before rolling out your message? Have you investigated their needs?  Do you know the condition of their personal lives?  All of these questions and more are critical to being an effective communicator.

Haven’t you been on the receiving end of an ill-researched message that you either did not or would not receive?  How about the business owner who, due to tough economic timed, has to cut his employees pay and a few days later asks his employees for donations to a pet charity.  Consider an employee whose boss asks her to take on greater responsibility and work extra hours without considering that she is going through a divorce and dealing with a serious physical situation. In each case, the one who had something to say did not know the needs and condition of their audience.  Not only did they not achieve their objective, but their insensitivity likely damaged his audience.

Before we communicate, we must do the work necessary to know our audience.  Test the water first by talking over your message with someone you trust.  They may have insight to some of the sensitivities of the audience. 

Leadership Never Left Us…

While it is true that we are experiencing a crisis of leadership at many levels, leadership never left us - we just left it.  Tough times, weariness, burn-out and being just plain sloppy can lead to failed leadership.  The solution is simple.  Just start leading like Sheriff Woody Pride did.  John C. Maxwell has said, "All leadership is influence." So, who can you influence today?

Good Leaders Confirm Progress Against a Plan. Great leaders work from a written strategic plan no matter how small the task.  They constantly measure their progress in achieving their objectives.  More importantly, they are flexible and adjust the plan as needed.
 

Good Leaders Have a Coach. We only grow when we are challenged by people more experienced than we are.  This kind of outside mentoring increases our competence. Whether through a trade or professional association, consultant, management coach, or simply having the input of someone more experienced, great leaders seek the advice of experts so that they can be their best.  This view from the outside helps us see more clearly and increase our impact.
 

Good Leaders Want the Truth. Good leaders what you to tell them the truth, not what they want to hear.  They value the input of their team.  Many times the best ideas and greatest wisdom comes from those working in the trenches.  Great leaders ask their team what they think and take their ideas seriously.
 

They Give Responsibility and Authority. A good leader recognizes that, once responsibility is given, everyone needs the authority and independence to make decisions.  Without authority and a measure of freedom people are typically unsuccessful and become frustrated and discouraged.

Good Leaders Affirm Those they Lead.
Good leaders tell people about their positive qualities, and praise their accomplishments.  This kind of affirmation raises people’s performance to the next level.  Great leaders place people ahead of results, direct their improvement, and deal with problems swiftly.

Good Leaders are the Chief Cheerleader of the Vision. Great leaders keep a group focused on vision. Jesus understood the importance of vision when He said, "Can one blind person lead another? Won't they both fall into a ditch?” Leaders motivate others by sharing their enthusiasm for the vision.  The contagious nature of their enthusiasm raises everyone spirits as in spreads throughout the team.

Leaders are Highly Visible. A great leader takes the time to get to know those for whom they are responsible.  This is more then having an open door policy.  Good leaders circulate through their team several times a day encouraging, clarifying, and affirming them.

How You can be a Better Leader.

Let us resurrect leadership by breathing new life into our rolls and into those who are depending on us.  As one who had been a leader and studied and taught leadership, I have learned that there are several highly critical attributes of a good leader that we need to emulate.

They Establish the Organizational Culture.
Like a parent, great leaders lead by example and establish the organization’s culture.  This includes standards for treating coworkers, appropriate language, elimination of gossip, putting internal and external customers first, a servant mentality, and appropriate attitudes. Dee Hock, Founder of Visa believes that if the leader does not get it right, no one else on their team will either.  Says Hock, “If you seek to lead, invest at least 50% of your time in leading yourself—your own purpose, ethics, principles, motivation, and conduct.”

We all Lead Something.

Some of us have “leader” titles like Chairman, President, CEO, Pastor, department head or project leader.  Regardless of our station, whether a manager leading a department, a mother leading her children, or the President of the United States, we all lead something.  Everyone can aspire to being a better leader, myself included.  A major part of our job is to bring out the best in those we work and live with.  Novelist, historian and politician, John Buchan writes, "The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there."

Where have all the Great Leaders Gone?

In the arena of government, the President has been characterized by “Watergate” journalist Bob Woodward as possessing poor leadership skills.  Just down Pennsylvania Avenue, Congress has the lowest confidence of Americans in its' history.  At home, the local politician’s highest priority is not leadership but their donors who assure their reelection.  In business, leadership has suffered a severe hit as well.  In many organizations, a struggling economy has replaced leaders who innovate with fearful managers who protect their jobs. Even in families, leadership has diminished as parents sometimes work multiple jobs to make ends meet with no time left over for leading. This multi-level leadership crisis is creating great disillusionment in those who follow and begs the question “Where have all the great leaders gone?”

Leadership is Having a Crisis!

Do you remember Sheriff Woody Pride?  He was the toy leader in the movie "Toy Story."  While we may best remember space ranger Buzz Lightyear, he didn't have what it took to solve the toys' crisis.  It was Woody who came to their aid and led them.  According to Pulitzer Prize winner Gary Wills, "The leader is one who mobilizes others toward a goal shared by leaders and followers.  Leaders, followers and goals make up the three equally necessary supports for leadership." So we see that leaders mobilize people toward a goal.

If you tour a Disney property you will eventually come across this slogan.  “Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse.”  As one who believes that every person on earth was created with a God-sized purpose, I know that whatever your dream is that “All things are possible…”

Just do something - Henry Ford, “Vision without execution is just hallucination.”  Remember that after dreaming comes hard work.

You may lead others to fulfill your dream - Louisa May Alcott, “Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.”  Sometimes those who go with us actually fulfill the dream.
 

You cannot hold back - Henry David Thoreau, “Let go of the past and go for the future. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you imagined.” Guard against letting past failures or pains hold you back from dreaming.

You must have courage - Erma Bombeck, “It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else.” Be selective, but actively share your dreams with others.

When you dream you take risks - Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Dare to live the life you have dreamed for yourself. Go forward and make your dreams come true.”  All gain requires wise risk taking.

Your dreams will encourage you – Aristotle, “Hope is a waking dream.” Dreaming gives us the life-giving energy of hope.

An article on ZeroMillion.com bolsters this assertion.  Although it is written for business people, it is just as relevant for a mother, a retired person or anyone for that matter.  It says, “Many of us, especially those of us running small business, know how to plan and act. We make lists, we chase funding, we gather clients…we are, in fact, the marathon runners of action. No one can dispute the number of hours of sweat and elbow grease we pour into our business. The question is, how well is that approach working for us?”  Many people I encounter tell me that that approach is not working for them.  They may appear successful but they are not satisfied with their “dreamless” life.

We are as Different as the Stars

Author Dr. Donald B. DeYoung tells us that, “Even though there are more than 10 to the 22nd power (1 followed by 23 zeros) of known stars in the universe, each one is unique. No two stars have exactly the same properties. A star has so many variables in its makeup that the probability of two identical stars is zero.”

Because we, like the stars, are different from everyone else, we need to understand the unique and subtle qualities that we have been endowed with.   It is liberating to better know ourselves and those we interact with in our family, work and community environments.  Everything just works better and we are happier when we do.

Someone Who Never Lost His Youthful Zeal

There once was a man who, at 85 years of age, still sought challenges in the same way as he had in his youth.  He did not believe in retirement and those who knew him well said that he had a “different spirit” (being more fully engaged) than most.  You may know him as the biblical character Caleb.  Caleb demonstrated four key attributes:

• He did everything wholeheartedly and never held back.
• He had strong convictions and he lived by them.
• He continually loved challenges.
• He wasn’t fearful and was always ready to swing into action.

His story so impressed me that my second son carries his name.

Through participating in the GPS Life Purpose Journey, people use DISC to discover their personality.  That understanding puts them on a path to leading a focused, satisfying and meaningful life.  Many, for the first time, begin to understand their traits and whether they are action-oriented, enthusiastic and energetic, warm and relational, or perhaps perfectionistic.  They achieve a measure of freedom because they now know they were designed differently from others, that they don’t have to be like everyone else, and can embrace and enjoy their uniqueness.

Reasons Not to
Act Your Age

A dear friend was telling me about the exploits of his eldest daughter.  He told me that she was undertaking a start-up venture and had set, what was in his mind, an unrealistic goal for raising capital.  He feared that she might be setting herself up for disappointment. Then he told me, “You know what, George? She did it!  She didn’t know it was probably impossible and so she did it!”

As I recounted the story to another friend, I began to see how in my life and the lives of most of those I know who are at least 40, that there is a tendency to become increasingly cautious about life.  By that age we have experienced some setbacks and have a more “be careful” attitude then when we were in our 20’s and 30’s.  That cautiousness, while a good thing, is also like a suit of armor which protects us but also limits our mobility, flexibility and possibilities.

If you want to discover why God put you here on this earth, you will have to consider your money, your talent and ability, and your time.  Those who take The GPS Life Journey, do so to discover and engage in God’s purposes for their lives.  As part of the workshop they design a path forward that helps them remove roadblocks that could hinder them. They receive coaching as they: 

• analyze how they spend their money in order to achieve financial capacity.
• evaluate their life experiences and passion to see what they have to offer others.
• review the hours of every day and what activities fill them and consider changes. 

GPS Life Journey participants look at the totality of their life, squarely and honestly.  They make the necessary adjustments and then embark on the adventure God has planned just for them. They begin, many for the first time, to live a satisfying and significant life and meet the physical and spiritual needs of others.