A little something from my Affiliate Marketing Community.
If You're Going to Communicate, Do It Well
Communicating is not telling people what you think they need to know. Communicating well is a process you will work on each time you open your mouth to speak to another.
Everyone is busy and everything is vying for each person's attention. Communication, like a foot race, goes to the swift. To get a busy person's attention you must communicate well and on THEIR terms. Sometimes people miss that second point. They have a canned presentation, a speech prepared and have thought out what to say while pretending to listen to the other person. Then the pressure to get your message across hits - what if they don't understand the benefits of my product or service? What will I do then? So you tug anxiously at your collar to relieve the pressure just thinking of all the clichés which have to do with making a first impression.
There are no absolute rules to communication and communicating well with others. People who communicate very well are flexible enough to suit their audience, whether this is a single person or an entire conference center full of attendees. You must either give your waiting audience information they can use, entertain them - or both. If you can do both you are said to have charisma and this is a potent trait for a professional communicator. Inspiration, to me, has diminishing returns because motivation is very personal. You can uplift someone but the moment they return to their daily life that positive story dissipates quickly and becomes a trite anecdote filed away in the brain's storage files. Information is something people can use, entertainment is an emotional release for the tension of daily - or even hourly - expectations. Both of these are very useful to the person with whom you are speaking.
Your message will be received with much less nervous resistance if you aim to entertain and or inform someone on their level of need. This is where the idea of value comes into play. You present value to another by relaying what you know to someone else who can then make use of what you told them. You could be selling the greatest product ever invented but if the person to whom you speak doesn't feel like you're giving them useful information they are likely to continue with a process or a product which is familiar and requires no hassle in changing even to something superior than they presently experience. Why should they buy your product?
Take the time to understand why the person (or people) to whom you are speaking sees the world in the way they do. If there is tension to be relieved say something relevant or lighthearted which appeals to them and not a previously canned joke you heard might work for people who work in the medical profession. One of the greatest favors you can do for another is speak to them in a way that they understand and readily assimilate new information into their frame of reference. The most solid relationships are built by people who take the time to make the other person feel secure about the communication of new information which will influence the introduction of new behaviour so a gain or benefit can be accomplished.
Give other people genuine warmth and constantly assure them of your integrity by your choice of words and your realization of the constraints on their time. You will build healthy esteem for your communication abilities and people will actively seek you in business dealings through repeat visits and referrals. Keep in mind just because you have sales objectives doesn't mean communication is all about you.
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Copyright: AMC, Monday, March 13, 2006
Affiliate Marketing Community
Bruce Wilson Photography
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