Great leaders are usually exceptional communicators. They are adept at connecting with every person in the audience, inspiring them to achieve more than they thought possible, and always seem to be able to deliver a powerful message.
Dr. Travis Bradberry, co-author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and president at TalentSmart, outlines communication ‘secrets’ that strong leaders reply on to deliver a powerful message:
- They know their audience: Great speakers are expert marketers. They do their research to understand their audience, what moves them, and/or what they’re looking for. They tell their audience what they need to hear, not just what they want to hear.
- They are experts in body language: Communicators have built skills to understand people’s reactions to their message by reading cues from the facial expressions and body language. They know how to modify their own body language in order to engage the listeners.
- They are authentic: Great communicators are comfortable in their own skin. They do not pretend to be someone they’re not and this authenticity makes it easy to trust and connect to the speaker.
- They speak with authority: The key to effective communication from the stand point of being a leader is to be direct about how things are and how things need to be. Great leaders never communicate ambiguous or unassertive messages.
- They admit to their faults: Exceptional leaders always use phrases such as “It was my fault”, “I’m sorry” or “I was wrong.” They never let their leadership position from hindering their sense of accountability.
- They solicit feedback: Good communicators check to see if the message received was the message intended to be delivered. They make sure the audience understood the message and ask for feedback on what could have worked better.
Other ways to engage an audience through communication include being honest, speaking to groups as individuals, listening and being empathetic. Great communications/leaders are also proactive—set agendas, goals and directions to maximize productivity.
For the full article, read: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-communication-secrets-great-leaders-dr-travis-bradberry?trk=mp-reader-card
Thanks for reading and until next time… stay WISE!