Mark Jeffries - Communications Consultant, Presentation Coach and Keynote Speaker

Why do we trust certain people. Why do we vote for certain politicians. Why do we buy from certain companies?

Whether you realize it or not, it may be because those people and organizations use the 3 C’s of Communication. So what exactly are they and how can we use them in business to position ourselves as great bosses, business partners and team leaders?

The 3 Cs of effective communication are:

Clarity
Consistency
Confidence

Clarity
When your message is clear, unambiguous and straight-forward – people like it!! They know where they are, they trust what you say and they understand what to do! However, in business, we all know people whose comments can be misunderstood or misconstrued or maybe even misleading! Then it gets worse… you have the group I call “The Translators”. They try to speak on behalf of the team-leader. They reveal that even though he just SAID this, he actually MEANS that! result? Chaos!!

So – conduct a self-diagnostic. Were you clear? It may have been clear to you in your brilliant mind…but was it clear to everyone else?

Consistency
They say that young kids or even new puppies react best to a message which is consistent. Actually, we all do! Statements, direction and instruction which seem to fit the normal patterns of behavior – within the boundaries of people’s expectations are respected, believed and followed.

If, however, you unexpectedly change direction, screech round a u turn or take a whole new approach, there is suddenly surprise and a touch of confusion.

“Wait, what?…but I thought…” becomes the phrase of the day.

It gets worse if you offer no clear explanation behind the change in direction and worse still if you deny what you said last time – that way lies mutiny!! If inconsistency is the tone of your approach to leadership people quickly learn not to trust you and your judgement calls.

Here’s your next self-diagnostic… If you know you have changed direction, be honest about it. Where appropriate, offer your reasoning and maintain an open stream of communication winning people over to the new plan.

Confidence
Did they believe you? Did u believe yourself? People read confidence like a bear can read fear or a dog can smell chicken! It’s like when you get in a cab in a foreign city and you ask for “West Street” and the driver let’s out this long confused “errrr…” while randomly trying to activate his SatNav. You just lose all confidence in his directional aptitude and you start wondering what would happen if you actually opened the door, at speed, and rolled onto the street.

Displayed confidence in communication is essential. It is a key signal that your team will read and react well to.

The self-Diagnostic – Be sure, certain and happy with your decisions before you announce them to the team. Try to pre-guess the cynical or negative ‘pushbacks’ and be ready for them. Demonstrate confidence and win true ‘buy-in’ to your plans.

While challenges in the business world are clearly very different to the political world – one thing is certain – using the 3 Cs of communication with your clients and teams will always help you steer your way to a far more successful outcome.

This week there were some very impressive numbers that came out of IBM’s service side. It clearly shows, as with much of the vibrant IT sector, that while businesses are not spending wildly, they are investing in themselves. It’s a perfect illustration of a selective recovery nursing our economy back to health.

So, what can we, as individuals, learn from this smart approach?

Now is the time to invest in yourself.

Businesses understand that with an economy in a fragile recovery, it is impossible to ruthlessly raise prices and to aggressively grab market share. Instead, it would appear that the game is to add value, offer the customer more and constantly justify their existence.

From an individual perspective, we need to take note. Taking a leaf out of the book of ‘big business’ for our own use as individuals is worth a go.

What are you worth?
Never forget that people buy people — and every time that you explain the benefit of your offering, the value of your products or the brilliance of your service — people are really choosing whether they buy YOU or not.

Personal PR
Despite the arrival of Google+, this Twitter thing is clearly here to stay — and yet so MANY people have yet to dive in. If you tweet only once a year or have never yet issued your thoughts to the Twittersphere — start now. Be outspoken, attach photos, give people a little insight into who you are, curate cool articles from blogs or websites — create your online brand. If you need a rude awakening, check out your Klout score (an algorithm-driven score based on the influence you have on the world) at www.klout.com

Lucky clothes
Whether we admit it or we don’t, we all have lucky clothes. Maybe it’s a suit, shirt, even some underwear… When we are wearing that specific item we feel more powerful. We imagine that, somehow, by wearing something we have anointed as very lucky we now possess a strength, a power that we can use to get ahead.

What really is happening is that we know we look good in this particular item of clothing. When we look good, whether we realize it or not, we exude a certain confidence that people want to buy. This works and is a great investment in our overall efforts to continue selling ourselves. (moral: Spend money on clothes, make yourself look good!)

We are all in sales
If people buy people, then, by default, we are all in sales! When I make this point at the conferences and conventions where I am lucky enough to speak, I can often sense the initial disbelief in the large audiences (especially the lawyers, CPAs and IT professionals). But, and you know this, it’s a fact of life.

With everything we say and every step we take, people choose whether to buy us, our ideas and our suggestions… or not.

Spending time truly understanding if you are selling yourself to your best ability or you are perhaps falling short, is a very strong way to Invest in yourself.

Would you buy you?

If you were sitting in an audience watching YOU would you be interested?

If you were watching television and YOU came on, would you stay on the channel?

During this lovely summer, as temperatures soar and we spend time by the water and in the sunshine, take a few minutes to consider how you have invested in yourself — your clothes, your tone, your brand, your knowledge, your stories… your buy-ability!

There is no greater way to invest in yourself than to stop focusing on what you want to sell and really concentrate on what you know your customers, your colleagues and your bosses want to buy.

Before the president’s (increasingly regular!) Press Conferences, Journalists have to be ready. Here (Courtesy of Mediaite) is a very cool look behind the scenes of what happens moments before The President walks in… (Just wait a few seconds for the ad to finish or click close to skip it!)

Just a short note today announcing my new blogging role at Huffington Post!

I just thought it would be rude if I didn’t share/Shamelessly brag about it!!

If you get a chance, do take a look. Thanks!

MJ on Huffington Post

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Purely for fun – I was at breakfast recently in Monaco (as you do!!) and this very courageous sparrow decided he was sharing it with me. Watch how he takes this fine, french croissant right out of my fingers!!

Here is the Movie poster for “Hangover 2″ translated for the French Market!!

Lost in Translation?? Peut-etre oui!

Remember the last time someone surprised you with something you weren’t expecting?

I’m referring here to a pleasant surprise as opposed to something like “Run for the hills – the internet is broken!”

That moment when someone ‘makes your day’ is great. You love it and you probably go home that night and talk about it.

This is something that you can deliver to others quite easily as well – in the form of some simple RECOGNITION. That’s it!

One Approach

One of my own personal examples of how to do this revolves around someone who had a big impact on my life. Nick Barley – he was Director of Marketing at Oracle in the UK.

After I interviewed him for a TV show, he asked me to come and do the same thing at a sales kickoff meeting in London. I had never done this before but he trusted me on a big stage and that moment of trust got me started off in the world of events and conventions.

I never forgot this and even though we worked together many times after that first event, I wanted him to know that I was grateful. Beyond saying “Thank you” or taking him out for drinks – I wanted to create a more lasting moment of recognition.

So – when I hadn’t seen him in a while and I was busy off doing other things – out of the blue I just sent him a message. I said something like:

Hey Nick,

Hope all is well.

Just a quick note to say that all these years on, I never forget that it was you who got me started – thanks again.

The note was a surprise. it was unexpected and it was truly appreciated.

I received an instant response. He loved it and it kept our professional connection very strong.

Why bother? Well, it’s another way to ensure that your network remains strong, it puts you on the radar and, most of all, it’s a reward system that costs nothing but earns a ton of goodwill.

Act now!

So, today, take a moment to consider the people in your professional circles. Try to isolate one or two of them who have helped you become the success that you are (you are a success, right??) and send them an unexpected, unprompted and surprising note.

You will make people smile and that is never a bad thing!!

BTW – My good Aussie friend Tony Hollingsworth drew my attention to this very cool offering from Intel… If you are into Facebook and you fancy visiting an online Museum Exhibit dedicated to … YOU(!!) just check this out! It’s very cool…

http://www.intel.com/museumofme

Today, I am simply sharing a link.

This is one of the most comprehensive, well-thought through and current collections of information on Twitter (Twinformation??) that I have seen. (Courtesy of Copyblogger and Gabrielle Conde)

If you click on and read every link within the post, it might take you a while – so bookmark it and keep going back.

Twitter is beyond important as a “listening” tool, let alone as a way for you to create strong and lasting connections with your clients, customers, colleagues and more.

Yet few people have truly dived in and used Twitter in a way that can build business.

At every event, where I speak, I ask for a show of hands on who regularly searches Twitter and/or tweets their own content. I am always surprised at the meagre showing of hands.

So, no more excuses!!

Click on this link and see what you are missing along with how and why you should be doing even more!

http://www.copyblogger.com/ultimate-twitter/

At the IBM/Unica Marketing technology event – #MIS2011 – that I am hosting today in Boston, Founder Yuchun Lee said:

“Social media is truth serum for companies”

It got a big laugh and a lot of nodding heads.

He was right. However Social Media is even more than the truth – it is now shaping decisions, perceptions and opinion like never before.

No longer can you say something and it is heard just once. Now, every word you utter in a public domain remains in that domain forever. Your words become tweetable, quotable, searchable forever.

No pressure!

You need to decide now and every week how you wish to be perceived and then make your cool, natural comments consistent with that decision.

This week RIM, the makers of my Blackberry Torch, the all new Playbook and allllll their other very effective devices, had a conference at which the co-CEO, Mike Lazaridis, spoke.

When asked why Blackberry seemed wrong-footed by the tablet market, he joked about being late to the tablet party and then said:

“But we did our best, we really did….The world is changing and we’re doing all we can to prepare RIM for it.”

How does this statement make you perceive Blackberry?

As a leader in technology or a follower?
As an innovator of devices or a company trying to stay the course?

I look at this statement and see a company trying very hard to keep up.

Can you imagine Apple saying something like this? Apple doesn’t prepare themselves for the changing world…they are the ones changing it along with many other smart and sharp organizations.

This week, carefully monitor what you say and how you say it. Whether in a meeting, texting a team, tweeting your followers or publishing a piece of marketing. Your words will shape perception and directly affect your ongoing success!

Social media will ensure that it all happens instantly!

Yes, I know that I am British and by all rights I should currently be setting up a street party and buying a range of over-priced decorative plates, but I’m just not that into it. I will probably watch a bit in the morning (what choice do we get??) and then move on with the rest of my life.

But… The Royal Wedding is one of those common experiences which offers you the perfect chance to reach out to a client or contact.

A common experience is, (clearly!!), something which happens to you and your  main circle of contacts at roughly the same time. A major sporting event, the clocks changing, bizarre weather, a presidential birth certificate – you know, that kind of thing.

Why do these events help?

Well, very often, you know you should be reconnecting with certain people in your network, but you’ve just got nothing to say!

Well now you have!!

“I hope you are not too bored by this wedding, if so you might like this (insert cool thing)”

Or

“I don’t want to interrupt your 24 viewing of that British wedding, but just in case you need a break, I thought you might like to see this review of your industry – looks good! Speak soon”

When you invoke a common experience, there is an instant feeling of connection. It removes a psychological barrier between you and the recipient and any humor you are able to use will further encourage a reply.

When you put yourself on the radar like that, you just never know where it will lead. At the very least, you will get a quick reply and you will have reminded them that you and your products exist! At the most, it may trigger your recipient to actually do or spend something!! Nice!!

Btw, if you are not taking the whole Wills and Kate thing too seriously, you might like to take a look at this very funny piece of T-Mobile viral marketing (watch carefully for the Charles and Camilla look a likes!!)
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