I’ve got a hang up; I can’t communicate

 Feb 19, 2014

“I've got a hang up. I can’t communicate. I've got a hang up, but I’m a happy man.”
I remember singing and bopping along to those words in my last year of high school. The Sunnyboys were one of the coolest bands in Australia and being a closet muso myself, they were a beacon to follow. Okay, okay, I just lost a whole generation or two; I admit I am turning 50 this year. Recently, I saw a documentary on ABC on Jeremy Oxley, the lead singer and writer who now battles with schizophrenia. He lamented on the irony of those words that were actually written about his brother at the time, but ended up being prophetically true for Jeremy himself. Hopefully, no one reading this has anything as serious as schizophrenia to block their communication, but a number of common emotions can hijack successful communication. Anxiety and fear are the most common emotional states that can stop us from speaking up. Reuben, a participant on our Assertiveness at Work course wanted to be a contributing member of his team, but complained that he was scared he might say the wrong thing. On the other hand, maybe a lack of speaking up is not the problem, but instead it is saying the wrong thing or saying too much. I consulted to an organisation once where the General Manager was called “Maple Syrup” behind his back. When I asked why, I was told: "He comes with waffles." All of these problems, even fear and anxiety, can be solved with one easy remedy; structure. Being prepared with a structure can help overcome a fear of saying the wrong thing. It will also stop a waffler. You will note that good speakers, those who can speak succinctly and off-the-cuff, structure their content in a specific way. Politicians are very good at it. Television presenters and professional public speakers also use structure, not just content, to engage their audiences. Here are the five most popular of the ten invisible structures we teach in our Think on Your Feet® training program, followed by an example of how each structure could be used.

1. Time (Clock Plan) E.g. sequencing your information in a logical flow of past, present, future or short-term, medium-term and long-term.

2. Points of view (Triangle Plan) E.g. what do customers, staff and shareholders think?

3. Advantages (Benefits Plan) E.g. by doing it this way, it’s easier, more accurate and liable to save money.

4. What this will do (Cause and Effect Plan) E.g. a lack of bank regulation led to a financial crisis which led to high unemployment.

5. Tell a story (Who, Why, Where, When, What and How) E.g. New Horizons started in a garage in California in 1984 to help people master desktop applications through quality training.

How do you get good at it? Like anything that you are trying to master…practice, practice, practice!

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About the Author:

Tim Higgs  

Tim has been involved in the corporate training industry for over 15 years; seven of these have been as the Portfolio Manager and Senior Facilitator at New Horizons. Tim holds a Graduate Diploma (Psych/Couns), a masters' degree in Cultural Psychology and a bachelor's degree in Business, giving him a unique theoretical backdrop for understanding human performance in the workplace. This complements his actual experience of working within the corporate sector in sales and management positions and owning and running a small business. Having worked with individuals and groups in both clinical and business settings, Tim has a fantastic insight into human behaviour, motivation and the issue of human change.

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