Improve Your Communication Skills Present with Confidence; Write with Style; Learn Skills of Persuasion ( PDFDrive )
35 How Conversations Work and hands still, or looking steadily at the speaker while they are
speaking, can make a big and immediate difference to the quality
of the conversation.
Key factors: managing behaviour • Check the context. Don’t try to interpret non-verbal
messages in isolation from any others, or from the wider
situation. Folded arms may mean that someone is hostile
to your ideas, or that they are cold.
• Look for clusters. If you are picking up a group of
non-verbal messages that seem to indicate a single
feeling, you may be able to trust your interpretation more
fully.
• Consider past experience. We can interpret more
accurately the behaviour of people we know. We certainly
notice changes in their behaviour. We also interpret
patterns of behaviour over time more accurately than
single instances.
• Check your perceptions. Ask questions. You are
interpreting observed behaviour, not reading someone’s
mind. Check out what you observe and make sure that
your interpretation is accurate.
( c) 2011 Kogan Page L imited, All Rights Reserved.
Your success as a manager depends on your ability to hold
effective and productive conversations. This chapter looks at
seven proven strategies to help you improve your
conversations.
1. Clarify your objective.
2. Structure your thinking.
3. Manage your time.
4. Find common ground.
5. Move beyond argument.
6. Summarise often.
7. Use visuals.
Don’t feel that you must apply all seven at once. Take a single
strategy and work at it for a few days. (You should have plenty of
conversations to practise on!) Once you feel that you have
integrated that skill into your conversations, move on to
another.
3 Seven ways to improve
your conversations
( c) 2011 Kogan Page L imited, All Rights Reserved.
