“Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.” – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Mastering communication is one of the most important building blocks for reaching your full potential. We are fortunate to have many brilliant communicators in our community and we asked some of them to share their lessons and advice below.
Emily Johnson
I believe my ability to communicate effectively comes from a few different things. First, my ability to understand the subject at hand and simplify it into understandable parts. Also, deep curiosity of the subject or person and be able to communicate it in a way the person or people in front of me can understand. I stay present in the moment and read whether someone is picking up what I’m communicating or not and adjust my approach or saying it in a different way if needed. Checking in with the person or people too to make sure they understand by asking them and nonverbal cues. Furthermore, I believe practice and trust is key as well. Read more>>
Sharyl Sutton-troiani
Communications is a fine art. These three exercises can improve your conversation: writing, listening and observing. Write like you speak. Speak like you write. Speech that follows the linear writing process – subject, verb, object – is easier to follow. When I wrote news copy this way, our ratings increased. I produced four hours of news a weekend. Within five months, the ratings tripled. That’s a big improvement in audience involvement. Conversing this way makes your message concise. Your audience will understand you quicker and more completely. Read more>>
Bridget O’ Connor
I have been so fortunate throughout my career to have wonderful mentors. I was relatively young when I started work at the White House, and it was my first real “office job.” I remember one of my bosses and mentors telling me that it’s so important to listen and resist the urge to jump in with a solution or a comment. I also learned a lot about how to maintain composure in meetings, even when they may be tense. Secondly, I had a career-changing opportunity when one of my mentors suggested that I pursue obtaining my Master’s Degree. Read more>>
Jan Goodwin
My Dad was military, meaning we moved very frequently around the U.S. and abroad. I attended high school in Spain and Italy. After graduating, I traveled in Europe with a friend for two months.
The changing locations, the constant influx of new people, different perspectives and beliefs were all great influences for me and practically demanded that I was to make friends quickly, open myself up and believe myself to be interesting, as well. It just wasn’t possible to shy away from these experiences and ignore anything. Read more>>
Jasmine Twineham
I have held a lot of leadership roles the past 4 years and with that I have learned a lot from Brené Brown on how clear communication is kind and unclear is unkind. Everyone deserves honesty and we each are held with a responsibility to help our neighbor in whatever capacity and I think clear, kind communication is one of the best ways to do that. Read more>>
Diane Lee
In my several years of relating and meeting many different people from all walks of life, I found the value of listening to be very very important. Communicating back and forth can only be effective when you start to be the listener. Back in the day when I started to join the corporate world, I watched and observed the company’s key people spoke in every meeting as they discussed important issues, ideas and possible solutions. After the meeting everyone would have a good idea which direction every department needed to be in order to achieve the company’s goal. Read more>>
