Fish don't bite if there's no bait....

As a business owner, senior leader, sales person, account handler, relationship builder.....OK, 'everyone in business' - you've got to 'sell yourself' using communication.

It's unavoidable. It's necessary. It's challenging, yet it is achieveable. And guess what? The only person that can achieve your outcomes for you, is you.

I speak to a lot of relationship builders about their experience of not being able to 'go up and start conversations easily' and sales people who are so focused on getting 'what they want to say' out of their mouths in business winning scenarios that they forget to listen effectively. At the same time, Directors who are so focused on their own thoughts that they forget how they 'come across' to their peers and managers with busy work loads that in some cases, aren't as attentive as they could be to the real needs of their teams.

With many different types of employee, prospects and customers out there how important is it to have the ability to interact effectively, with all your focus on the person(s) you are interacting with, to ensure that your message is issued and received as it was intended to be. As we go about our business lives with heavy workloads, sometimes with stress and other challenging items around with us, not always do we pay attention to our own personal communication patterns and we often find blame in other things when we don't get what we want. Everyone knows that we 'get out' what we 'put in' and communication is no different!

See if you can do this as easy as is possible.

Now. If you were to think about the last meeting you were in, the last networking group you attended and ask yourself this simple question:

"When I think back to that time, if I were meeting me, shaking hands with me, looking at me, listening to what I normally talk about/like in this situation, and taking into account the outcome at the time, what words would I use to describe me?"


What words have you come up with?

Now. Think about 3 things you did well in that situation.

Then, think about 3 areas in which you can improve upon.

Question: How will you go about getting those things so you can be even better next time?

Finding the difference that makes the difference between your personal performance in communication settings will allow you to ensure that your results will change. But only if you act upon what you find out...

Changing the way you communicate and being able to analyse your performance in communication situations is a key skill. Developing yourself in this area means you become more 'attractive' to all those hungry fish out there.

So. Waders on, line cast and await your first bite....