IIMA-Speak with Impact

Sharma Meenakshi

Description

If you are among those who tremble and break into a sweat at the thought of facing an audience, or hesitate in offering an opinion, you are not alone. When this happens a few times, we begin to feel that spoken communication is not our forte and we begin to avoid it as far as possible, and when we cannot avoid it, we go through it anyhow, reconciled to not making much of an impact. Prof Meenakshi Sharma in Speak With Impact shows you how to get results and to leave a mark. Interactive, accessible, and with a host of useful examples, Speak With Impact equips you to sharpen your ability to leave an impact on others with your every interaction..

Sujets

• Marketing et communication

Informations

• Publié par: Random House Publishers India Pvt. Ltd.
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9788184006179
• Langue: English

Extrait

MEENAKSHI SHARMA

IIM Ahmedabad Business Books Speak with Impact
RANDOM HOUSE INDIA
Contents
Dedication
Introduction
1. Speak with Impact to be Noticed and Get Ahead
2. Speaking Effectively: The Recipe
3. Conversations and Discussions
4. Selection Interviews
5. Extemporary Speaking
6. Presentations
7. Conclusion: Talk Your Way to Success
A Note on the Author
A Note on the IIMA Business Books
Other Books in this Series
Acknowledgements
Follow Random House
Copyright
Dear Reader,
Speak with Impact , Meenakshi Sharma s book in the IIMA Business Books series, published in collaboration with Random House, offers clear and straightforward guidance on a subject of importance on which little has been said thus far: how to be impactful in your spoken communication.
The book begins with a discussion of why speaking effectively is a key requirement for leadership. It emphasizes the importance of preparation through introspection and seeking feedback. Through a discussion of the pros and cons of spoken versus written communication, circumstances that might be particularly amenable to spoken communication are identified. In the second chapter, she details a recipe for effective speaking. Successful speech is built on preparation, which requires: (a) having clarity on objective, listener, and context; (b) gathering materials that include facts, examples, and evidence; (c) planning the structure; (d) presenting with energy and sincerity; (e) employing body language well, including facial expression, eye contact, posture, and movements; and (f) using voice effectively, with attention to clarity, tone, pace, and pauses. I particularly enjoyed practising the tongue-twisters she listed, such as We surely shall see the sun shine soon and Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.
In subsequent chapters, Meenakshi focuses on the distinguishing characteristics of particular settings and offers concrete advice on how to be an effective speaker in those settings. She devotes a chapter to conversations and discussions, paying particular attention to phone conversations and teleconferences, and another chapter to how one might prepare for and be effective in a selection interview. She offers guidance on how to be good at extemporary speaking, including several settings such as introducing guests to an assembly, and offering a vote of thanks. She offers detailed advice on making presentations effective through focus on elements of content and delivery, offering specific dos and don ts to make presentations succeed. The book concludes by emphasizing the importance of spoken communication for leadership success.
In a straightforward and practical manner, the book offers practitioners thorough and specific advice on how to be effective at spoken communication.
Speak with Impact is one of a series of books authored by IIMA professors who are not only academically proficient but also have rich experience in consulting and teaching executives. These books are intended to disseminate knowledge in relevant topics in management to practising executives. Written in conversational style with illustrations from the world of practice, the books are eminently readable and applicable in daily life.
I hope you will enjoy Speak with Impact and find it useful, as you will other books in the series. Please do let us know if there are particular topics that you would like covered in the books published in this series.
Ashish Nanda Director IIM Ahmedabad
To Shishir, Ruchir, and Ananya, the wind beneath my wings
Introduction
YOU CAN MAKE SPEAKING EFFECTIVE AND MEMORABLE
As we go through life, there are occasions when we encounter someone whose ideas ring in our minds for long and create a strong, positive impression of them. There are also times when some of us have wrung our hands in desperation, feeling that our ideas or deep knowledge is not being appreciated by others. On both occasions, it boils down to a skill that this book attempts to de-mystify. This is the skill of articulating ideas through the spoken word. We must remember that it is through communication that our ideas can leave the space of our own mind and impact another s. On countless occasions this is through the spoken mode. It is not just the act of speaking but the quality of speaking that often sets the successful individual apart. Speaking is a powerful way to impress others not only with our ideas but also with our personality. In all areas of life, our relationships with others go a long way in paving the path to success-whether in terms of providing support, receptivity to ideas, ease in persuasion, or openness to suggestions. And these relationships are largely based on the way we speak with others in our everyday interactions with them. People are constantly forming ideas about our intelligence, level of awareness, depth of knowledge, originality of ideas, integrity, level of involvement, and much else from what we speak and how we speak. Speaking not only serves particular objectives but is also an expression of one s personality. As Dorothy Carnegie writes in the introduction to Dale Carnegie s Effective Speaking , when one is unable to say clearly what he means, through either nervousness, timidity, or foggy thought-processes, his personality is blocked off, dimmed out, and misunderstood . How true it is, not only in terms of what blocks the clear articulation of one s ideas but also in terms of the damage it does to fairly presenting one s knowledge, creativity, ideas-in short, one s entire personality.
We must remind ourselves that in order for our ideas to be appreciated and rewarded, we need to be able to convey them to others. The greatest harm and injustice we do by not presenting ourselves fairly and completely through our communication, are to oneself and if others are not able to recognize and reward us for what we are, the fault may really lie with us.
Not everyone is able to present their thoughts and ideas to others in the best possible manner. That means in the manner that most truly and most lucidly presents to others what we wish to convey. It involves everything-from finding the most suitable way to express our ideas without any loss of meaning, and presenting them in a structured manner that provides clear and coherent meaning to others. With the spoken mode, an important ingredient is a confident manner that may add credibility to the ideas and convey the feelings behind them.
No doubt it is a tall order, requiring a number of components to come together just right. Not only must we be clear about why we wish to communicate and make useful choices about what to say and how to say it in view of our objective and intended receiver, we must also ensure that our communication has clarity for the receiver both in terms of ideas and feelings. Of course, it is not easy to achieve all this, especially in the spoken mode that does not allow for editing and revising. Moreover, it is especially challenging because we, as a whole, rather than only our words, are subject to scrutiny by the receiver.
No wonder many of us find the task daunting! Many of us feel acute anxiety and self-consciousness when it comes to interacting with new people, seniors, or when the stakes are high as in a selection interview, or a presentation before potential investors or buyers. I am sure many of us would admit having avoided speaking, as in the case of confidently contributing our views at a discussion, countering a point, or raising a question; seeking an interview to present our ideas or clarify something; or engaging in small talk with someone we have just met. And when not avoidable, how many of us have agonized over a speaking occasion, suffered sleepless nights because of apprehension, and found ourselves breaking out in a sweat on the occasion? How many of us have tried to make the task of spoken communication more bearable for ourselves by increasing our reliance on the written word through over-reliance on notes and slides?
Let us stop and ask ourselves the following: By letting go of opportunities to speak or by not fully utilizing the opportunities for speaking, are we losing out? Are we doing justice to our abilities and our potential, through fair and impressive presentation of our knowledge, intelligence, and creativity, through our spoken communication? Are we able to use it as an opportunity to add the strength of our personality to our communication? When we speak, are we doing so with clarity about how the advantages of the mode can better help us meet our communication objective? Do our listeners take away clarity about the ideas we shared? Do they find it easy to follow our ideas? Do they feel that their time and effort was well spent? Asking such questions is very important. This introspection would lead us to recognize if there is room for improvement in the way we handle speaking opportunities.

Introspection would lead us to recognize if there is room for improvement in the way we handle speaking opportunities.
Introspection is a necessary starting point for any efforts to improve our ability in this area. At the same time we should take heart from the fact that one does not need to be a born wit or to have a suave, charismatic personality to be successful in spoken communication. The skill of connecting with people through our spoken words, and leaving an impact with our ideas and personality is one that can be polished through effort, just like any other.
This effort is worth making because most of us would like others to appreciate us for what we are in terms of sharpness of mind, knowledge and information base, as well as for our human qualities. It cannot be said that people whose communication does not reflect a sharp mind, critical capacity, brilliant and innovative ideas, and a repertoire of information and knowledge, truly lack these. They may possess these in the truckloads, but if it all rem