Impactful Communication

When you communicate with someone, whether it's an individual, a room full of people or a company-wide email, you have a desired outcome...something that you hope to achieve as a result of your efforts. Making an impact with your communication is an essential skill for leaders at all levels and of all types.

Move from Effective to Impactful Communication

Consider the steps that a communicated piece of information goes through before it has a chance to actually turn into information for the recipient...to inform the recipient. Is it any wonder that effective communication can be difficult?

How can you be sure that your shared information has been correctly understood? And that someone is now more informed? Seek out feedback.

Assessing your impact

You don't have to ask for feedback, look for it. Consider how the recipient behaves and what they say. Do they acknowledge it? Do they seek clarification? Build on the points you make or challenge it? It's easy to see a challenge or a disagreement as negative. However, it's all feedback and it's all helpful in assessing how effective your communication has been.

Furthermore, how can you be sure that it has had the desired impact? Effective communication considers how well the information has been received and understood. Impactful communication considers whether your intended influence and impact on someone happens.

From Intention to Impact. Being heard is just the start, someone may be informed but do they believe the information? Does it convince and persuade them? And does it help to increase their commitment?

One of the best ways to ensure that your information is heard, understood, adequately informative and ultimately impactful, is to stimulate the right questions to be asked of you. People are much more attentive when receiving information that is directly (and even indirectly) answering a question they or their colleague has asked.

Strategies for delivering impactful communication

Consider your audience: Think about the purpose of your communication and put yourself in your listener's or reader's shoes.
Be clear: Write and speak in a way that's easy for your audience to understand.
Use a considered tone: The right tone can help you connect with your recipient and convey your message effectively.
Be concise: Communicate your message in as few words as possible without sacrificing clarity.
Use storytelling: There are times when conciseness isn't the best approach. Stories can make your communication more memorable and help people work together toward a common goal. Storytelling can create a vicarious experience helping to increase empathy and even levels of learning.

So, don't forget the ABC of comms (Accuracy, Brevity, Clarity).