Posts in category: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

ARE YOU LUCKY?
Are you lucky in communication? Of course you are. Shooting from the lip in a fast and careless manner is a recipe for disaster. You know that you make your own good communication luck. But, how do you make good luck happen when you’re feeling bad?

HOW DO YOU MAKE TODAY A LUCKY DAY OF POSITIVE COMMUNICATION?

Are you mindful of your own communicator power? Here are road signs that you are driving sensibly down the road of excellent communication, empowering everyone by exceeding expectations. YOU…

•    Take time to talk
•    Build communication bridges of trust
•    Think optimistically about people
•    Listen and hear more than you talk and tell
•    Are aware of your communication prejudices
•    Adjust your mood to avoid running into a ditch or wall
•    Apologize freely and joke often
•    Don’t go for “It’s my way or the highway” threats
•    Give a balanced diet of positive and negative feedback
•    Strive to improve your communication skills a little bit every single day
•    Don’t put off people who might have a bone to pick with you
•    Pump yourself up daily with encouraging self-talk
•    SMILE and make eyeball contact with newcomers
•    Clarify if what you hear being said is actually what is being said
•    Leave your ego at the door

ARE YOU TOO SENSITIVE OR NOT SENSITIVE ENOUGH TO WHAT WORKS?

How to start off on a good foot? Appreciate that Empathizers are TOO sensitive to the moods and opinions of others, but they don’t care enough for the self. Conversely, Instigators have plenty of respect for the self, while being LESS sensitive to the emotions of others. A balanced style works best.

By studying the TALK2ME© system, you will improve your communication results and mood. Not a bum deal.  Test your communicator type today for free at http://www.drogrady.com/type.php

Dr. Dennis O’Grady is a family business psychologist, individual counselor and couple communication expert from Dayton, Ohio. You can reach Dennis by calling 937-428-0724.

The overall goal of TALK2ME© communication training is to improve performance and profits by improving trustworthy communication.

BAD APPLES

Bad apples in the Communication Orchard plant seeds of discord, sap energy, and they don’t see the opportunity writing on the wall. Negative communicators at any organizational level show off…

1. Poor communication skills
2. Lack of initiative
3. Poor interpersonal skills
4. No sense of urgency
5. Lack of focus on target goals
6. No responsiveness to customer or employee needs
7. A lack of empathy…can’t put themselves in the shoes of others

Bad apples can spoil the whole bushel basket and negatively impact team mood and morale, problem solving, and they run your most talented people out of the Communication Orchard in no time flat.

TALK2ME© POSITIVE AND EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION TOOLS

Interactively taught in small groups, TALK2ME© tools aren’t difficult to learn, and they create these very predictable results in the individual, team, family, and organization…

1.  Rich and responsive communication skills that build bridges of trust
2.  Initiative is taken to map out a trip on the two-way communicator highway
3.  Productivity increases by 40%, by tapping Emotional I.Q. and managing mood
4.  Sense of urgency is created for accomplishing improvement and collaboration
5.  Leaders walk the talk by staying focused on target goals
6.  Responsive to customer or employee needs, resulting in positive feedback
7.  Buckets full of empathy…willing and able to put themselves in the shoes of others

Balanced Instigator and Empathizer communicators work from the strength sets of both talk types, allowing the driver to maneuver around common but deadly communication accidents on Talk Highway. As one talented Human Resources leader told me, “Much of the TALK2ME© system is common sense but not commonly done. It’s enlightening and sells itself. When you use it, it simply works.”

GIMMICKS

Unfortunately, some communication training programs are presented in large group, lecture format, so the information may go into the head, but it doesn’t move into the heart and hands of the trainee to be successfully implemented everyday. That’s too bad, because such programs can be a waste of your time and money. In contrast, because training is in an interactive format, TALK2ME© tools stick with trainees, enabling them to spontaneously apply the tools in their personal relationships, with the same great results they experience in the workplace.

THE ACID TEST OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Here’s the acid test: What are key ways Empathizers and Instigators are opposites? You are in the driver’s seat of the TALK2ME© system if you can tell me a few tools to use.

For example, you know E-types thrive on compliments, while I-types don’t require kudos. And E-types have difficulty getting over a stupid comment, while I-types shrug off dumbbell comments like water rolls down a duck’s back. E-types’ motivation soars in a caring, relationship-focused approach, while I-types’ motivation sails in a goal-focused setting. Of course, how you like to receive your feedback – negative right now, or first give me the positives – are core differences of our talk types, too.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then you’re not using the system. This is a great time to change all that by merging onto the two-way communicator highway. Check your communicator type and receive a free report at http://www.drogrady.com/type.php. Download and read in greater depth about the key differences between talk types at http://www.drogrady.com/ttm_optin.php. You’ll be amazed at how much easier it becomes to reach your travel destinations when you use the strategies and tools of the TALK2ME© positive and effective communication system.

ABOUT THE TALK2ME© SYSTEM

Dr. Dennis O’Grady is the founder of New Insights Communication, a coaching and relationship counseling practice located in Dayton, Ohio. Dr. Dennis O’Grady is the author of three works, the most recent being Talk to Me: Communication Moves to Get Along with Anyone, which is a communication training book. Dr. Dennis O’Grady is a corporate trainer, keynote speaker and motivational speaker. His executive coaching and business consulting programs are targeted at the areas of leadership development, communication, change management and conflict resolution.

YOU ARE A FIRST CLASS COMMUNICATOR…

You aren’t a second-class communicator. You are a first class communicator…and don’t let anybody tell you any differently. The first-class wisdom of Class 15, who had all four corners of their Talk World covered with trust and respect for each other, as Empathizer and Instigator communicators….

BETTER COMMUNICATION LEADS TO BETTER CONFIDENCE

How do you open up lines of communication and drill down to the real themes that profits everyone?

It’s through relationships that all goals are attained. Trusting relationships work. Be a motivator!

“The glass is half full” thinking may not always be a good thing. Sometimes you have to look at the glass as half-empty to gain a better perspective and better or more realistic self-confidence.

I need a more positive attitude. There needs to be a more positive attitude in the workplace. Set the mood, not the doom. Don’t take things personally and react defensively. (“I’m not going there.”)

Be a good listener. Don’t cut the guys off. Don’t always take things personally.

Good decisions will come from a diverse group of individuals who see more than just one side of things. I will speak my mind with more conviction, resulting in motivating others.

There are always two sides to each coin or story, positive and negative. Harsh words about you that aren’t true hurt the most.

Self-confidence. The culture of Dayton Freight is to always treat people with trust and respect. Being honest and open decrease anxiety.

LISTEN…and take time to process what another person is actually saying.  Seek to improve your ability to listen.

Be more patient. Have more patience. Don’t run around like your hair is on fire.

Mood dictates reputation. Being patient improves your mood.

Attitude: You get back what you give!

For me it’s very simple—JUST LISTEN LONGER.

We cannot change the past but can improve on the future. (Less stressful.)

IT ALL BEGINS AND ENDS WITH COMMUNICATION

It all begins and ends with good communication skills. You come into this world communicating, and you will exit this world communicating. Invest in yourself and a brighter future! The Talk2Me© system works when you use it, and it even works when you don’t use it. Use good communication tools to gain hope instead of losing out on substantial gains.

ABOUT COMMUNICATION EXPERT DR. DENNIS O’GRADY

Dennis O’Grady is a communication expert and developer of the TALK2ME positive and effective communication system. You can discuss your communication training program needs by calling Dr. O’Grady at (937) 428-0724.

MISCOMMUNICATION KILLS…DO YOU FEEL VALUED AND VALUABLE?

How do you stack up? If people who worked for you or loved you graded you on a curve on your communication, what grade would you receive? What would the customer service reality be? Would you receive a grade of “A”…”B”… “C”…or “D”? How do you stack up in the minds of others, who perhaps see things entirely differently than you do?

HOW DOES YOUR COMMUNICATION PERFORMANCE STACK UP?

Stated in the first person, here are selected communication performance questions that tap your core skill areas, according to how others typically view you:

1. Are you COMFORTABLE communicating with me?

2. Do you feel VALUED?

3. Do you feel your thoughts are HEARD?

4. Do I provide consistent FEEDBACK?

5. Do I COMMUNICATE CLEARLY with you?

6. Do I SPELL OUT what you need to know to accomplish your job?

7. Do I MAKE TIME TO TALK with you?

8. Do I send the message that I’m OPEN and AVAILABLE to LISTENING, even when I’m BUSY?

9. DO I DRIVE THE EXTRA MILE FOR GOOD COMMUNICATION?

These are billion dollar questions to ask of your teammates, or your life partner, and even your kids. Take a chance by risking receiving negative feedback.

GIVING AND RECEIVING HELPFUL FEEDBACK

O.K. I even gave you the questions to ask to get at the truth of your communication skills. Simple, yes; easy, no. Ready? Set. Go!

Guidance strategies as you ask risky, powerful feedback questions:

1. First, you need to ask the right open-ended questions

2. Second, you need to listen open-mindedly to ALL the answers

3. Third, you need to be open to changing and growing and learning as a result of the feedback

4. Fourth, you won’t allow a bruised ego to flip off good communication, via retaliation

When you learn you earn! Ask, then listen, then add to your repertoire of communication skills…today.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS: DO YOU DRIVE THE EXTRA MILE FOR GOOD COMMUNICATION?

Miscommunication kills! You can’t afford to be a legend in your own mind — namely, that your perception is way off from the reality on how your fellow co-communicators will grade you when they talk. Why not get an “A” on your Talk2Me© Communicator Report Card? Only the strong who use soft communication skills will survive today’s business climate. Bottom line: Do you make others feel VALUED…AND that their OPINIONS and THOUGHTS ARE HEARD? Why, or why not? And most importantly, what are you going to do about it?

ABOUT “TALK DOC” DENNIS E. O’GRADY, PSY.D.

Dr. Dennis O’Grady is the new Talk Doc in town, a corporate consultant, team trainer, and the insightful, original developer and researcher of the Talk to Me© positive and effective communication system. Talk2Me© has been successfully implemented in multi-generational family companies and couples communication training.

What are the pillars of effective communication? Trust and respect are harvested when use a positive talk attitude. Trainees in a recent Talk2Me© class were asked: “What one tool will you use from your toolset to set yourself up for success when you return home? What tool will you keep sharpened?!” Here are the answers of these respected and trusted leaders…

Do more passing along logical facts to develop trust.

“Just do your job!” approach when others are acting like a rogue.

It’s going to be hard but I’m going to do the “less talk is better” approach with Instigators.

Keep others better informed across all shifts and crews through use of handouts.

Take time instead of take off running and utilize the clerks more. Push down some of my responsibilities so I can breathe.

Tell Instigators what they did wrong bluntly. Explain to Empathizers about consequences. Instead of letting everybody put their two cents in.

Let others know when they do a good job vs. go with the approach that no news is good news.

Seem like I do care by showing the emotional side of it and recognize achievements.

Listening to others concerns and taking time to hear the whole story.

Take the time with the Empathizers to talk with them and reassure them.

Take time to talk with others and re-empathize that they’re not just a number in the company. Ask how their weekend was.

Stop doing what I’m focused on doing and take time to actually listen to what they’re saying.

I will listen to the concerns of others from an Empathizers standpoint. It means a lot to them to take a lot of time.

WHAT TYPE OF COMMUNICATOR ARE YOU?

To be an effective communicator in life requires honesty, and open, two-way communication that promotes personal growth and success.

WILL THE TALK TO ME© SYSTEM WORK FOR YOU?

In the words of one top executive of a major regional company which is based in Dayton, “…If we can’t communicate with each other, therein lies many of our problems. It’s all about the customer. Talk To Me© is a communication system that will give you the tools and strategies to communicate better with your peers, your subordinates, your customers, your families. You learn how to listen and how to talk more effectively. Talk To Me© is great, but you can’t really explain it….It just works! As you put the communication tools and strategies that you learn to good use, you set up the work climate for clear communication, thus setting yourself up for success.”