How to Communicate with Tact and Professionalism (2-Day)

Avoid misleading verbal and visual cues that interfere with clear, concise communication

Continuing Education Credits: CEU: 1.2 CPE: 12 HRCI: 11 PDC: 12 

Download Brochure

(2631)

Bring this training to your location.

Request Onsite Training►

See our other Onsite Topics

View additional Communication training

See public seminars coming to my area.

Overview

Look around you. The true leaders in your organization are the people who share a particular skill: the ability to communicate effectively.

Coincidence? Hardly. Experts now agree that the movers and shakers who climb the corporate ladder fastest are the ones who can relate easily to everyone … present their ideas with conviction (and charisma!) … and emerge from almost every personal interaction on a high note.

Read More

Anyone who really wants to succeed can acquire these communication skills

Upbringing, education and talent aside — all good leaders share the same quality: superior communication skills. Through observation, trial and error or schooling from mentors, they've mastered the art of "connecting" with people in ways that almost always yield positive results …

  • They realize diplomacy works far better than brute force.
  • They know how to help people "get it" the first time.
  • They can empathize, and they know how to get the support they need.
  • They don't waste time rehashing instructions or entering into arguments that go nowhere.
  • They listen first and act second — not the other way around.
After two days of coaching, practice and critiquing, you'll emerge a far more powerful communicator.

We'll demonstrate and drive home the essential skills you need to become a more polished, persuasive communicator. You'll gain insights into everything from making a good impression … to motivating people … to intervening in tense situations.

After two days packed with one great idea after another, you'll leave amazed at your new communication skills — and eager to apply everything you've learned.

Day 1

Becoming an exceptional listener

  • How to grasp what is not being said — but implied
  • The advantages of withholding judgment until the end of a situation
  • Easy-to-use reminders that fix your attention on the speaker
  • How and when to use open-ended, closed-ended, curiosity and clarifying questions
  • "Charging Rhinos" - how to stop them from dominating conversations
  • Specific techniques to reach poor listeners

Tailoring a message to fit your audience

  • How to break up your message into manageable pieces for maximum impact
  • Different strategies for different audiences (staff members, peers and supervisors)
  • Specific language that prevents mixed messages
  • Why you must anticipate what your audience wants — and know how to provide it

Using nonverbal communication

  • How to complement your message with nonverbal communication
  • Ways to interpret nonverbal behaviors for a deeper understanding of what's being said
  • How to make sure your verbal message is consistent with your nonverbal message

Maintaining emotional control

  • How to complement your message with nonverbal communication
  • Ways to interpret nonverbal behaviors for a deeper understanding of what's being said
  • How to make sure your verbal message is consistent with your nonverbal message

Staying focused on the present

  • How to move any conversation out of the past and into the here and now
  • Positive language to steer a conversation in the right direction
  • The one must do to get others to join in and build on your ideas
  • Techniques to move past “would-haves” and “should-haves” to discuss what’s really happening

Understanding how your behavior influences others

  • How to fix situations — not people
  • The value of challenging familiar routines and behaviors
  • How to uncover hidden agendas, influence outcomes and overcome conflicts

Giving and receiving feedback

  • How to evaluate criticism — what to take to heart, what you can safely ignore
  • Ways to handle unjust criticism and rejection
  • The kind of feedback to use for the fastest results

Day 2

Writing for impact and clarity

  • How to enhance your credibility through well-crafted memos, letters and emails
  • The art of delivering a reader-centered message (instead of a writer-centered one)
  • The best way to convey rejection and other bad news and still come out looking good
  • Powerful writing techniques to persuade people and affect outcomes
  • Final edits to add prestige to all your documents

Connecting with different types of people

  • How to interact more effectively with your supervisors — especially your immediate boss
  • How to successfully handle a tirade
  • Ways to deal with bullies, liars and other difficult people

Communicating in a diverse environment

  • A look at diversity in the workplace — how to keep differences in age, sex, race and culture from hindering communication
  • The key to staying focused on outcomes instead of stylistic differences
  • Advantages of considering out-of-the-box ideas
  • Tips to help you overcome strong emotional responses to cultural collisions
  • Basic business etiquette: how old-fashioned manners can often solve workplace differences

Boosting your power of persuasion

  • The first deadly sin of communication — how to resist the temptation
  • How to get the support you need for your projects and proposals
  • The best way to use stories, case studies and other anecdotal information
  • Tips to achieve complete buy-in
  • How to sell the benefits
  • Dynamic openers and closers
  • Why you should build a trust account — and when to draw on it
  • Stealth communication techniques that go unnoticed but get results

Framing your message in the positive

  • The best way to frame an unwelcome message
  • How to say "no" without feeling guilty or upsetting the other person
  • The infectious synergy of positive thinking