My Name is Sarah Ghessie and I need help communicating.

Becoming an effective communicator is extremely important to me so I recently asked a few peers at Social Tables for feedback on my communication skills. I know this is an area where I need to improve, so I was not overly startled when the few people I asked had a lot of feedback to give.

One person told me I need to have a stronger voice and another told me I need to speak with more authority and take command. Both mentioned I need to effectively learn how to say “Yes” or “No” in situations and not hover somewhere in the middle. Additionally, I was told I have a tendency to “jump the gun” at times and should reflect on what I am trying to say so I can clearly communicate my expectations.

I took some time to reflect on what I heard, I realized there were two trends that came up:

1. Clarity — I need to take a clear stance and clearly define my expectations
2. Confidence — I need to speak confidently when giving my opinion

After realizing these trends, I decided there were four things I could do in the short-term to improve on both.

1. Write out what I want to say before speaking in front of groups. Writing out bullet points or even full scripts before speaking in front of a group will help keep me on track and increase my confidence.
2. Take a deep breath and collect my thoughts before speaking. Studies show that deep, meditative breathing can help calm nerves and I think getting my nerves under control will help me to speak with both confidence and clarity.
3. List all objectives I have for tasks before I assign them. If I can create a list of what I expect from the task then I can easily convey what I am looking for to other people.
4. Come to a clear decision as to where I stand before responding to people. If I have made a firm decision on a topic before I respond, all parties will have no question where I stand.

I plan to apply these four action items over the next month and collect more feedback regarding my communication skills in September. From there, I can create a long-term action plan of how to continue improving and hopefully use what I have learned to help others struggling with the same issues.