101 Tips for Improving Your Business Communication

Edward Barr

Description

This book contains business communication information that may not have been taught in college–information that has been accumulated over years of business experience and teaching.

Anyone can read these brief tips to learn how to better communicate in business while saving the time that might have been invested in reading many books.

The tips cover the fundamental areas of writing, speaking, and interpersonal communication, as well offer general business communication advice. Each tip is a practical application that can be implemented immediately. Each tip is also illustrated by a story from the author’s work life in various industries. Lastly, the book also lays a foundation for an understanding of how the brain influences all communication.

Sujets

• Entrepreneuriat
• entrepreneur
• Emprendedor
• Meetings
• Business Communication
• Presentations
• Marketing et communication
• Economics
• Business
• Efficacité professionnel

Informations

• Publié par: Business Expert Press
• Date de parution: 09 février 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781953349996
• Langue: English

Extrait

101 Tips for Improving Your Business Communication
101 Tips for Improving Your Business Communication
Edward Barr
101 Tips for Improving Your Business Communication
Copyright © Business Expert Press, LLC, 2021.
Cover design by Charlene Kronstedt
Interior design by Exeter Premedia Services Private Ltd., Chennai, India
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations, not to exceed 400 words, without the prior permission of the publisher.
First published in 2021 by
Business Expert Press, LLC
222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017
www.businessexpertpress.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-95334-998-9 (paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-1-95334-999-6 (e-book)
Business Expert Press Corporate Communication Collection
Collection ISSN: 2156-8162 (print)
Collection ISSN: 2156-8170 (electronic)
First edition: 2021
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Description
This book contains business communication information that may not have been taught in college, information that has been accumulated over years of business experience and teaching. Anyone can read these brief tips to learn how to better communicate in business while saving the time that might have been invested in reading many books.
The tips cover the fundamental areas of writing, speaking, and inter-personal communication, as well as offer general business communication advice. Each tip is a practical application that can be implemented immediately. Each tip is also illustrated by a story from the author s work life in various industries. Lastly, the book also lays a foundation for an understanding of how the brain influences all communication.
Keywords
business communication; audience; BLUF; body language; brain; customer; differentiation; eye contact; gestures; emotional intelligence; networks; novelty; PowerPoint; posture; props; question; quote; simplicity; statistic; story; speaking; writing; you
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
How to Use This Book
Introduction
Part I The Brain
Part II Business Communication Tips for Success
Section 1 General Business Communication
Section 2 Writing
Section 3 Presenting and Speaking
Section 4 Interpersonal Business Communication
Conclusion
Bibliography
About the Author
Index
Preface
You hold in your hands the book of Communication Tips I wish someone had given to me before I began my career in marketing and business communication.
I knew the fundamentals of speaking and writing from my college courses and thought I was pretty good at both. When I began my career as a teacher, I had plenty of experience presenting before middle school audiences trying to attract and keep their attention (not an easy task with 12-year-olds). But, when I transitioned into business and began reading books about business communication, I found few practical tips to help me succeed every day in front of critical business audiences.
Now, after a long and successful career as a businessperson and teacher, I decided to list tips to help those who need to know the wisdom that isn t found in business textbooks or taught in classes. You can buy plenty of books with many details about all of the topics I have surveyed in this book, especially writing and speaking. If you need deep levels of detail and theory, I can direct you to them, including some major college textbooks. But, if you re looking for advice that you can use immediately to improve your communication in business and improve your stature as a communicator, you have found the right book.
I worked for 30 years as a marketing, communication, and fund development professional, including service as Chief Marketing Officer at iCarnegie, a Carnegie Mellon University firm, as a Vice President of Marketing in a statewide hospital system, and as a Director of Corporate Communications for a video startup. In addition, I have taught Professional Writing, Marketing, and Business Communication at Carnegie Mellon University for 25 years (and taught Negotiation, Strategy, and Entrepreneurism on occasion). For my efforts, I won the Heinz College Faculty Excellence Award in 2006, and I was named Distinguished Educator in 2011 by the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Marketing Association. I have taught in England, The Netherlands, India, China, Mexico, Panama, Australia, Kazakhstan, and all over the United States, and, lastly, I have served as a consultant to local, national, and international companies, including Cinepolis, Cognizant, and a variety of smaller firms and political campaigns. In other words, I have earned my stripes by having to create messages that would attract the attention of diverse audiences and move those audiences to action.
Acknowledgments
For my wife, Holly Welty-Barr, who makes the good things in my life possible and who lent me unending support and invaluable advice in writing this book. Also, to Scott Isenberg who believed in this book and Debbie DuFrene, an outstanding editor who reviewed the book and made many suggestions for its improvement. I thank you.
How to Use This Book
You can read a few tips per week over the course of the year and you will improve your business communication. You can read tips related to specific topics in writing, speaking, or general business communication. If you re preparing for a presentation in your staff meeting, you can read just the tips that deal with presenting. If you are preparing a major presentation to executives or an international audience of peers, you can find helpful tips about that.
In many ways, this is a book about common business sense. For instance, when you are making a presentation to executives, you must prepare to answer every question an executive might ask before she can ask you. You ll never be happier than on the day that you deliver a presentation to executives and they have no questions to ask. It means you were thinking deeply and strategically, just the way they want you to act. It means you have understood the audience, the first rule of communication.
Enjoy reading the book. It aggregates knowledge I have learned after 50 years of business and teaching. I know it will improve your communication game.
Introduction
Do you REALLY want to be promoted? If you do, I have the key for you. Communicate better.
Sure, you expect me to say that, right. After all, I teach communication at one of the best universities in the world and I have taught communication for some of the best corporations on the planet. But, it s true. Plenty of business news stories make the case for communication skills as a way to promotion. Download and read this article from The Bloomberg Recruiter Report: Job Skills Companies Want But Can t Get. 1 The report makes skillful use of quadrants. In the upper right quadrant under Less Common, More Desired, you will find Strategic Thinking, Creative Problem-Solving, Leadership Skills, and, you guessed it, Communication Skills.
The Bloomberg Report also says, Business schools are supposed to produce graduates who have the abilities companies need most. But, cor-porate recruiters say some highly sought-after skills are in short supply among newly minted MBAs. Bloomberg surveyed 1,320 recruiters and 600 businesses to arrive at their conclusions. But, they didn t have to prove it to me. For years, I ve seen the sad news. For instance, the New York Times wrote two articles: What Corporate America Can t Build: A Sentence 2 and Literacy Falls Among College Graduates. Yes, literacy, the ability to read and write, falls for college grads.
So, what does this have to do with your promotion? Everything! If you can communicate, you will differentiate yourself. You will possess a skill in great demand. You will stand above the MBAs who have great quant skills but weak writing and speaking skills. You will face a job market that can t find the skills you have. You will be fought over. Recruiters will fall at your feet.
Employers want communicators! Recruiters shared with the Wall Street Journal the attributes they were seeking in job candidates. In the article titled How to Get Hired, 3 recruiters in the survey cited Communication and interpersonal skills (89 percent) as the most sought after student attribute. It was followed by Ability to work well in a team, (87 percent) Personal ethics and integrity, (85 percent) and Analytical and problem solving skills (84 percent).
A report from ExecuSearch titled The 5 Top Skills Employers are Looking for in 2020, listed communication, 4 and specifically says, Regardless of position, level or industry your ability to communicate with others can define your success . . .
Another article, entitled This is the most in demand skill of the future, 5 in INC. magazine in 2019 says, In the AI abundant world of tomorrow, where technology will do much of the heavy lifting, the ability to deliver compassion and empathy . . . will become much more valuable . . . Also, soft skills represent the top three missing skills of job applicants, according to the Society of Human Resource Management s 2019 State of the Workplace. 6 These and other business-related articles tell you that you will move faster on your path to the best jobs through powerful communication.

1 https://bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-job-skills-report/
2 https://nytimes.com/2004/12/07/business/what-corporate-america-cantbuild-a-sentence.html
3 https://wsj.com/articles/SB109577501492723498
4 https://blog.execu-search.com/top-skills-employers-are-looking-for-2020/
5 https://inc.com/ryan-jenkins/