by Susan Heaton Wright
Last week I received some bad news about a future speaking opportunity. The lady that called me was fantastic in ‘softening the blow’ so that my expertise and time was still valued. In fact she immediately booked me for future engagements that were very exciting.
Delivering bad news can be a real challenge. We will all be faced with the unpleasant role of delivering bad news at some point in our lives. Here are the top 5 communication strategies that compassionate leaders have used:
Tell the truth. Give as much information as you can to put the situation into perspective. We tend to fear what we don’t understand. Don’t speculate and try to squash rumours by addressing the best and worst possible scenarios.
Put yourself in their shoes. Empathise with their situation. Give them all the facts. They will be worried about how the situation will affect them, and it is unfair to leave them guessing. It is unfair and useless to tell the other person not to worry.
Acknowledge their feelings. Don’t devalue their feelings by telling them to ‘Cheer up’. Let them vent and express their emotions. Negative emotions must be expressed and dealt with before they can be replaced with a positive plan of action.
Take charge. Lead a discussion or outline a specific plan of action for the future. Do not express your own specific fears to others. You need to assume the role of leader.
Keep the group unified. Facing a crisis alone can be terrifying. Encourage the group to pull together, support each other and share ideas about how to find a solution. Conclude the meeting on a positive, optimistic note by reemphasising the commitment to overcome the present challenge.
And just a couple of notes on the delivery; if you are delivering bad news over the telephone, check that the listener has the time for the call, and suggest they go into a quiet room.
If you are meeting someone face to face, consider the environment of the meeting. Try to be on a level with the other person – both sitting down, and a private room rather than an open plan office, so that the other person has an opportunity to let off steam.
Copyright 2009 Susan Heaton Wright of Executive Voice
Showing posts with label communication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label communication. Show all posts
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Speed Reading
Learn how to speed read
… and read faster, understand and remember more of what you read
The aim of speed reading is to help you read faster with good comprehension. By practising these skills you will be able to deal with the deluge of journals, books, research papers and reports which have been pouring onto your desk in recent years. And with emails and other material flowing out of the internet, the flood has reached almost unmanageable proportions.
These days, we can’t succeed without knowledge, not only of our special field of interest, but also of a broad range of other subjects. The problem is that, while technological progress has made the production and distribution of information an effortless and instant process, our strategies for coping with this flood have hardly changed since the early 20th century. Some of us are experiencing stress because, although we’re doing our best to deal with the torrent of information, it’s hard to keep our heads above water.
So how does it work?
It’s simple mathematics really. If you can read two or three times faster, you can get through more material in the time available. The end result is that you’ll become better-informed than ever. But it’s not just about knowing a great deal about a large number of subjects: reading faster will also help to harness the huge reserve capacity of your mind. Your memory will improve, you’ll be able to communicate better and you’ll feel much more confident.
The way you read at the moment is just a habit acquired over several years. Some of your approaches may be useful, but many more will be counter-productive. Developing and embedding new, more useful reading habits will take a bit of time. But it will be well worth the small amount of effort involved.
How can speed reading make a difference?
The average person reads at between 200 and 240 words per minute. So a typical 250 page book, with about 500 words per page, might take you nearly ten and a half hours to complete. You can expect to double your reading speed while you are learning how to speed read. And if you practice regularly, you may eventually attain 1,000 or more words per minute with good comprehension. This would mean that you could read your 250 page book in two hours.
Most people enjoy learning how to increase their reading speed and they gain a lot of long-term benefits as well. In fact, a wealth of new possibilities opens up. It is possible to conquer those stacks of unread books, reports, manuals, papers and journals. You rapidly have all kinds of information at your fingertips, instead of having to search for it. The idea of further professional training or education suddenly seems to make sense. And there is finally time to read the newspapers or relax with a novel.
How can you learn how to speed read?
You can learn how to speed read quickly and effectively with Jane Smith’s popular audio book ‘Speed Reading for Success’.
If you are interested in finding out more about how to improve your memory, choose Jane’s highly praised audio book Memory and Learning for Success.
Together, these self development packages offer some steps you can take to increase your reading efficiency and improve your memory of what you read. Most people are surprised at what they achieve – I’m sure you will be too.
Jane Smith, Word Smiths
http://www.word-smiths.co.uk/
… and read faster, understand and remember more of what you read
The aim of speed reading is to help you read faster with good comprehension. By practising these skills you will be able to deal with the deluge of journals, books, research papers and reports which have been pouring onto your desk in recent years. And with emails and other material flowing out of the internet, the flood has reached almost unmanageable proportions.
These days, we can’t succeed without knowledge, not only of our special field of interest, but also of a broad range of other subjects. The problem is that, while technological progress has made the production and distribution of information an effortless and instant process, our strategies for coping with this flood have hardly changed since the early 20th century. Some of us are experiencing stress because, although we’re doing our best to deal with the torrent of information, it’s hard to keep our heads above water.
So how does it work?
It’s simple mathematics really. If you can read two or three times faster, you can get through more material in the time available. The end result is that you’ll become better-informed than ever. But it’s not just about knowing a great deal about a large number of subjects: reading faster will also help to harness the huge reserve capacity of your mind. Your memory will improve, you’ll be able to communicate better and you’ll feel much more confident.
The way you read at the moment is just a habit acquired over several years. Some of your approaches may be useful, but many more will be counter-productive. Developing and embedding new, more useful reading habits will take a bit of time. But it will be well worth the small amount of effort involved.
How can speed reading make a difference?
The average person reads at between 200 and 240 words per minute. So a typical 250 page book, with about 500 words per page, might take you nearly ten and a half hours to complete. You can expect to double your reading speed while you are learning how to speed read. And if you practice regularly, you may eventually attain 1,000 or more words per minute with good comprehension. This would mean that you could read your 250 page book in two hours.
Most people enjoy learning how to increase their reading speed and they gain a lot of long-term benefits as well. In fact, a wealth of new possibilities opens up. It is possible to conquer those stacks of unread books, reports, manuals, papers and journals. You rapidly have all kinds of information at your fingertips, instead of having to search for it. The idea of further professional training or education suddenly seems to make sense. And there is finally time to read the newspapers or relax with a novel.
How can you learn how to speed read?
You can learn how to speed read quickly and effectively with Jane Smith’s popular audio book ‘Speed Reading for Success’.
If you are interested in finding out more about how to improve your memory, choose Jane’s highly praised audio book Memory and Learning for Success.
Together, these self development packages offer some steps you can take to increase your reading efficiency and improve your memory of what you read. Most people are surprised at what they achieve – I’m sure you will be too.
Jane Smith, Word Smiths
http://www.word-smiths.co.uk/
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