It's crucial for leaders today to be able to communicate effectively.

If as a leader you want to influence the direction of an organization, or

the output of your employees and your team members.

The best tool in your tool kit as a leader, is effective and

clear communication.

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The first place I being when I work with a leader who is trying to communicate more

effectively, is to teach a very simple framework that allows you to

create a strategy, before you ever write, or ever speak.

And the heart of that strategy is just the word aim.

Who is my audience?

What is my intent?

And what is my message?

If, if a leader can think through audience, intent, and

message, as they're creating an email, or a Tweet, or a report, or

a presentation and really distill within each of those three pieces what

is it they want to achieve with the audience that they're speaking to.

That's the first place to become more effective as a leader who communicates.

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The more I know about the group of people that I am trying to communicate with.

What inspires them to action?

Where do they gather?

What resources do they rely on?

What sources of news do they read?

What are their peer groups of influence?

The more I understand the audience, the more I can decide what's the best vehicle

or multiple vehicles that I might want to use in order to communicate with them.

When I'm only communicating with one person, and

I'm doing it interpersonally with just two people sitting in a room,

I have the full benefit of both the verbal and

the non-verbal communication between me and that other person.

As a leader, I don't have that freedom where every message I deliver,

I can deliver one on one.

So as I start communicating to a small group of people,

a larger group of people, a very large group or

a mass audience, I have to also expand the different vehicles that I might use.

Choosing the vehicle or vehicles that gonna be most effective,

based on the audience analysis that I've done.

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Any time that a leader is standing up in front of a group of people to

deliver a message, there are three aspects to that communication.

There's the verbal, which are the actual words that,

that person says to the audience.

If I was to do a transcript of everything that was said,

that's the verbal component of the communication.

There's also the vocal component of communication, how loud or

how soft, how much I use pauses for emphasis, or how rapid

I deliver to show a sense of excitement and enthusiasm for what's coming.

And that's the vocal aspect of communication.

But the third and, many researchers argue,

the most powerful aspect of communication is the visual,

the nonverbal communication, my sense of gestures, eye contact, movement.

Even how I'm dressed and the posture that I use,

all is a part of my presence as a leader in front of a group of people.

So when the visual, the vocal and the verbal all come together effectively,

then a leader is able to have a sense of executive presence,

as they deliver a presentation, share a story or

have a conversation with the teams that they are leading.

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