Effective Business Communication Skills

Effective Business Communication SkillsEffective Business Communication Skills

Presented by:Presented by: Phillip RothPhillip Roth

29 September 200929 September 2009

ContentsAreas we will cover: Polson Higgs – Business Advisors Understanding the business context Business communication skills

Written communication skillsOral communication skillsTeam communication skills

Problem solving strategies Business information management Developing your skills

Effective Business Communication Effective Business Communication SkillsSkills

Written Communication Skills

Objectives

Efficiency

Effectiveness

Effective Business Communication Effective Business Communication SkillsSkills

Effective Report Writing (continued)

A good report should be: Readable Interesting Well presented No longer than necessary

And should have: A clear structure Clear conclusions A summary

Effective Business Communication Effective Business Communication SkillsSkills

Effective Report Writing (continued)

Advantages of well written reports: Communicate more effectively Contribute to business success by

improving communication Reinforce a good firm image

Effective Business Communication Effective Business Communication SkillsSkills

Effective Report Writing (continued)

Poorly written reports: Waste time of readers Frustrate readers if incomplete Create misunderstanding through

ambiguity Lose the confidence of the reader May not be read.

KISS Principle

K eep

I tS hort

&

S

imple

Short, simple, everyday

words.

Be precise.

Use specific terms – avoid

abstracts.

Use of WordsUse of Words

Never try to impress.

Beware of jargon/technical/professional words.

Some long words for variety and precision.

Below 10%.

Avoid ambiguity.

Use of WordsUse of Words

Be Positive

Turn negatives into positives.

Avoid Jargon and Clichés

Accuracy and Clarity are more important

than brevity.

Use of WordsUse of Words

Summary - ParagraphsSummary - Paragraphs

A paragraph is a group of related

sentences.

The first sentence is a signpost.

The average person can only keep 5 to 6

ideas in their head at any time.

Paragraph length – 5 or 6 sentences.

W = Number of words.

S = Number of sentences.

X = Number of long words (more than two

syllables).

W + ( X x 100 ) = Clarity Index

S W

The Clarity IndexThe Clarity Index

A yardstick for clear writing used by most

professional writers.

Aim for a Clarity Index of:

- 20 for Notices;

- 25 for Letters and Memos;

- 30 for Reports

Summary – Clarity IndexSummary – Clarity Index

Oral communication skills Understand the context Empathy with your audience Body language and signals The art of good listening Maintaining eye contact Tips for good listening Practical appreciation

Oral CommunicationOral Communication

Problem Solving Strategies

Oral CommunicationOral Communication

VISION PROCESSING GRID

PROBLEM

Diagnose Reasons

Explore Impact

Visualise Capabilities

Open

Control

Confirm

Vision of a Solution

Oral CommunicationOral Communication

VISION PROCESSING GRID

PROBLEM

Diagnose Reasons Explore Impact Visualise Capabilities

Open

Tell me about it, what is causing you to have this . . . (repeat problem)?

1

Besides yourself, who else is impacted by this (repeat problem), and how are they impacted?

4

What is it going to take for you to solve this (repeat problem)?. Could I run a few ideas by you?

7

Control

Is it because?

2

Is this (problem) also causing . . .? If so, wouldn’t (title) be concerned?

5

What if there were a way for you/your people to . . ., would that help? What if you were also able to . . .?

8

Confirm

So, the reasons for your (repeat problem) are . . .?

3

From what I just heard (repeat the who and how), this isn’t just your problem, but a . . . . . problem?

6

From what I just heard, if you had the ability to . . . (repeat capabilities), could YOU solve (repeat problem)?

9

Vision of a Solution

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