{"id":9282,"date":"2018-01-11T08:58:57","date_gmt":"2018-01-11T13:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/?p=9282"},"modified":"2021-10-14T21:38:42","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T21:38:42","slug":"what-not-to-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/2018\/01\/11\/what-not-to-say\/","title":{"rendered":"What Not To Say"},"content":{"rendered":"

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.
\n\u2014George Bernard Shaw<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How high would you rate your communication skills? Is your message consistently understood, and are you pleased with your delivery?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of us excel at gathering our thoughts and speaking with clear intent almost simultaneously; others of us need a bit more time to plan our message.<\/p>\n

Lou Solomon, a communication consultant for Fortune 500 companies, shares that our verbal mistakes will “undermine our credibility and distract from our message”<\/em>, and it will also impact our ability to influence others.<\/p>\n

To be more effective leaders, Ms. Solomon suggests dropping the following phrases from our vocabulary:<\/p>\n

1. “I\u2019m confused,” or “I don\u2019t get it.”<\/strong>
\nInstead of putting all the responsibility on the other person, take co-ownership. Say, “Help me understand your position,” and remain open.<\/p>\n

2. “You know what I mean?” and “Does that make sense?”<\/strong>
\nAsking for constant validation chips away at your command.<\/p>\n

3. “I was like…” or “She was like…”<\/strong>
\nThe word “like” is an unsophisticated setup that gets in the way of your clarity and credibility.<\/p>\n

4. “Um, ah, uh, you know.”<\/strong>
\nWatch out for overuse of filler words and practice pausing to counteract the clutter.<\/p>\n

5. “I\u2019ve been too busy” or “I started writing an email and forgot to send it.”<\/strong>
\nExcuses are unattractive. Say, “I apologize for the inconvenience. You will have it by tomorrow.”<\/p>\n

6. “Out-of-the-box thinking”<\/strong>
\n\u2026 should be retired. We can\u2019t escape all the buzzword phrases, but ones like this have become boring.<\/p>\n

7. “You always…”<\/strong>
\nSweeping generalizations lack insight and get in the way of healthy dialogue. Be specific and avoid using vague blame tactics.<\/p>\n

8. “I think we should kind of do it this way.”<\/strong>
\nTentative language waters down your presence as a confident communicator. Make a solid recommendation and own it.<\/p>\n

9. “I hate to say this, but\u2026” and “John is a good person, but…”<\/strong>
\nDon\u2019t try to disguise criticism with a layer of caring or say things that offer zero value.<\/p>\n

10. “Really?”<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s an all-purpose complaint that sounds like whining. Try making an interesting observation instead.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re like us, when you read through the “WHAT NOT TO SAY” list, a few will stand out and make you give thought as to which one to drop first.<\/p>\n

As leaders, there\u2019s a need to be viewed as credible, authentic, and purposeful. Take the time you need to consistently deliver a message that\u2019s understood. What\u2019s your first action step?<\/p>\n

THIS WEEK’S QWIKTIP!<\/p>\n

Read about 5 MUST HAVES FOR LEADING TEAMS<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. \u2014George Bernard Shaw How high would you rate your communication skills? Is your message consistently understood, and are you pleased with your delivery? Some of us excel at gathering our thoughts and speaking with clear intent almost simultaneously; others of us need a bit more time to plan our message. Lou Solomon, a communication consultant for[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":14055,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[104],"class_list":["post-9282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","tag-communication"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peopletekcoaching.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}