Communication Skills and Business Success

Great leaders are great communicators. Great communicators are great leaders. The ability to confidently and persuasively communicate are critical to great leadership, and those who rise to the top are the ones who can stand up and speak effectively. When was the last time you watched a CEO of a Fortune 500 company deliver a lousy presentation and fall flat on his face? It doesn’t happen often—if ever! Most fortune 500 CEOs will tell you that the secret to their success is strong communication and presentation skills. 

Effective communication skills are increasingly viewed as essential to the success of organizations and their leaders. Furthermore, the skills required to be an effective communicator are changing rapidly and continuously. For today’s leaders it is mandatory to communicate in “real time” via a host of communication channels. Leaders are evaluated by their candor and transparency, and are required to be constantly present, responsive and accessible.

Communicating effectively can significantly enhance both your personal and professional relationships. For example, negotiation is about strategy—the analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of both sides. It is also communicating your ideas, interests and solutions in a language palatable to the other party. This applies to negotiating deals with customers and suppliers, as well as negotiating a better job, compensation or benefits.

The good news is that the bar for presentation skills is unbelievably low and you can soon vault above it if you're willing to invest the time and effort. When you master effective presentation skills you will engage your audience each and every time you make a presentation.  You’ll become more confident and find yourself presenting more often, resulting in more opportunities for you to command attention and deliver your message. Your ideas will win more often, because you know how to convey them. You’ll learn to utilize analogies, incorporate humor and deliver a message that emphasizes benefits, not features.  Most importantly, you’ll know how to customize your message to fit any audience.

Communication has—and can have—a dramatic impact on your life. The question is … “Have you invested sufficient time and effort maximizing your communication skills?”