How to Be a Great Communicator

1. I was struck this week when two old-fashioned, paper-based periodicals landed on my doorstep. One had a headline about someone being “targeted,” while another, covering the same story, had a headline saying this same person “…might be called…” Consider the difference in impact – if I am targeted, it is a negative connotation, very brusque and direct. “Might be called” is not definite and is more respectful of who I am and how I will be invited to participate.

I leave out the person and the situation because it is not relevant; what’s relevant is that same situation was portrayed using different words, and it changes the reader’s viewpoint before the article is even read. Am I reading expecting the person to be “targeted,” or I am reading expecting the person “might be called”? My filter and understanding changes dramatically. This is, of course, the power in marketing and in grabbing someone’s attention. Paper-based circulation is down, so it is understandable a periodical wants to grab someone and reel them in.

It was an important lesson for me, as a communicator, in reminding myself and my clients about how framing is critical. When talking to a client, for example, do you talk price and the need to “defend fees,” or do you talk value and return on investment? When speaking with team members, do you talk “the remaining things we need to do to get better,” or do you celebrate what’s been done and how you, as a team, can improve and collaborate more effectively? We are often unaware of how the framing in what we say creates the result. We blame the listener or audience. We don’t see that we set the person’s expectations about what we are about to say or deliver!

2. I am in the process of creating a new executive MBA course where I teach in Boston. In creating some course material, I was reminded about the need to have different learning modalities when communicating important information. Most people need more than just an article, an email, or even an online-training video to synthesize important information and understand it. Yet in business we too often default to this.

To energize and engage your team members, do more than just send them a “good job!” email occasionally. Send the email, but bring them on screen if remote, or into the conference room if local and make phone calls to the important colleagues you want to recognize. Bring them together to ask their opinion or hire an outside firm to collect insights or ideas to share back.

For a team to coalesce and work well together, they need to communicate often and in varied ways. Include ways for them to give feedback and know they are heard. Focus on this as much as just informing and providing outbound information. While that has its place, to communicate for engagement you need much, much more.

3. I often hear how a communication is sent assuming the adage, “one and done.” Communication sent, check the box and move on to the next thing. “But we told our team, so why don’t they understand what to do….” In marketing, folks talk about “the rule of seven,” meaning the idea that someone needs to hear, see and engage with a message a minimum of seven times before it takes hold. This doesn’t imply they will buy what you are selling; it just means it takes that many impressions for them to notice what you are talking about.

Senior leaders are in the mode of selling to their teams all the time – an idea, concept, or a change that needs to be made and a compelling reason to keep giving one’s best every single day. Think of every communication as a sales communication. How would you deliver it if you needed someone to buy what you are offering? Be clear and say the same thing in different ways often.

4. I was reminded again this week in running some very engaging focus groups about how hard it can be for team members to articulate what’s going on for them. We need to be clear and concise and specific enough for senior leaders to listen and act on what’s being conveyed. This goes in the “don’t assume” category, because we hear something, and we believe we know what it means. We don’t ask for clarification.

Something as simple as “we’re wasting time filling in forms” could mean a myriad of things. Should someone else be doing the forms so the time is freed up for more important activities? Are the forms themselves the problem? Are people untrained so they don’t know exactly how to fill out the forms? The statement is clear on its face, but if a senior leader wants to address something, they need to have the patience to ask what’s underneath. What evidence or specifics about the comment do they need to have or know?

Digging deeper to learn is necessary but too often glossed over. Senior leaders lose out on important information they need in two-way communication. This leads to solving the wrong problem, which leads to frustration all around.

Be attentive about communication – what you hope to achieve, your desired outcome and how you convey the message and engage with your team. Saying something isn’t enough; if you want learning and/or action to happen (your desired outcome), you need to be thoughtful and spend time crafting a clear message that can be offered in a multitude of ways. Check in with your team and make sure they understand and act on whatever you are sharing with them. Don’t blame the audience when a message isn’t heard. Instead, self-reflect and ask how you can become better at your delivery and impact.

Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry, in 1995. The firm also founded and manages the Advisors Sales Academy. The firm has won the Wealthbriefing WealthTech award for Best Training Solution for 2022 and 2023. Beverly is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate and graduate students Entrepreneurship and Leading Teams. She is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).

She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute

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