Consulting Guru, Chell Smith, talks leadership, communication and podcasts.
Want to know how to communicate effectively with any group of any size? Meet Consulting guru, Chell Smith! Chell has grown successful global Consulting businesses at EY, Capgemini and Cognizant.
I sat down with Chell to talk about how to get your message heard across both internal and external communications — and where podcasts fit in. Read on for the nine key takeaways from our interview.
1. The only problem with communication is the illusion that it has occurred!
As a consultant, communication is all that you do. You’re helping to transfer your experience, your insight and your knowledge to your clients. What I’ve learned is that the challenges of communication are always the same, whether you’re speaking one-to-one or one-to-many. The first thing to understand is that no one can absorb a complex message in one hearing. It takes many iterations. Repeatedly introducing the challenge and introducing the concepts. There’s a reason you see adverts over and over again. Once you understand that, it changes the whole game.
The challenge for any leader is to communicate a message multiple times without being perceived as repetitive or harping. And to do that requires a combination of varying the language and varying the medium.
2. Be crisp, clear and concise
Whether you're doing a consulting engagement, talking to your team or trying to sell to a new client, you need a crisp, clear way to articulate the issue you want to address. It takes work to get below the surface and find the essence of what you want to say, but the more succinct you can be, the more likely you are to get your message across.
This is vital at the CEO, senior executive level, because here you’re dealing with people who have a lot on their plate and not a lot of patience. But over the years I’ve found that it’s true whoever you’re talking to in an organisation. The difference is that below senior executive level you have the opportunity to be a little more social and a little more engaging in the way that you deliver the information.
3. Stay authentic
In any communication, in any medium, the most important element is to be authentic. To be yourself. Don't try and put on airs. People sense authenticity immediately – and they respond to it.
If you're uncomfortable, if you're being guarded, it stops people believing what you're saying. Now they're going to question everything that you say. This is a human thing: it happens at every level. We all make that judgment.
Take it to the world of politics. A few years ago, Mitt Romney was running against Barack Obama. You didn't need to agree with everything Barack Obama said to understand that he was being authentic, that this is what he really felt. Whereas Mitt Romney was hamstrung by a Republican platform that he didn’t believe and hadn’t acted on.
You could see that it wasn't authentic for him. I think that was a huge reason why he wasn't successful.
4. Know when to stay neutral...
Leaders introduce change. But neuroscience teaches us that every change is threatening to people. It can be threatening in many different ways and in many different dimensions. As uncomfortable as people may be in their current situation, change is still threatening. There's just no way around it.
So, when you are instigating change you have to articulate the current situation and the reason for the shift. But it’s critical that you do that without letting judgement – or the perception of judgment – creep into your voice. When people feel judged, they feel guilt. That prevents them from hearing or absorbing what you’re saying.
The answer - when you’re describing the current situation and building the case for change - is just to state the facts. Keep the information factual and keep your voice neutral. Then people can hear you.
This takes practice. When I’m preparing for this type of communication I’ll sit down and sketch my core message out on paper. But – as judgment is all in the perception of the listener – I’ll always run it by other people. I try and find four or five people that have very different perspectives, get their feedback and adjust.
5. ...when to use emotion...
Where you have the opportunity to bring emotion into a communication about change is when you start talking about the what's in it for me, for your audience. Why should they care about this? What does this mean to them? What are the opportunities that this opens up?
6. ...and when to use humour
Knowing when to use emotion feeds into another point, which is the importance of connecting with your audience. When people feel at ease, they’re able to listen.
I try and connect with people through some kind of humour. I’ll say something about the situation we're in and it will often be self-deprecating. I want to show that I’m open and vulnerable.
7. Ask questions
People want to be listened to. So I always make it clear that I really am here to listen, not just to talk.
There are a lot of ways to do that. One I'm pretty fond of is starting with the question and asking for feedback from the audience. So, today we want to talk about cost of sales. You guys have been in this company a long time, give me some perspectives. What do you see around cost of sales? Is it an issue? Do you think you are best in class? Open it up and solicit feedback.
8. Use every communication tool you have
People learn differently. People have different styles, some are more visual, some are more aural, some like to read. So, use all the tools at your fingertips. Meet with people in person; combine white papers and strategy documents with calls; webcasts; video; podcasting.
“It was clear that we needed something more concise for people to wrap their heads around. That was when we settled on podcasts. ”
I've had really good luck with podcasting. What I like about the medium in particular is that people can listen to podcasts anywhere. They can be on the way home or out on a run. That accessibility is huge. And I’ve found that with a short podcast – 10 minutes – people will both listen and re-listen. So, you can give your audience bite-sized chunks of information that are relevant to them and you can meet them where they are.
9. Make it a conversation
When you can make communication conversational, it’s much easier to listen to and to absorb. This is another space in which podcasts play to an advantage.
At Cognizant we had a new concept we were bringing to market about how organisations needed to operate in the face of rapid technological change. It was an approach that we knew would challenge organisational norms: crossing fiefdoms, challenging people’s territory and turf and responsibilities – all of those things that aren’t easy to challenge.
So, after sourcing feedback, we started communicating. We did a series of white papers. We did internal sessions. We did webcasts with clients to introduce them. It still didn't feel like we were getting though the full uptick, particularly internally. It was clear that we needed something more concise for people to wrap their heads around. That was when we settled on podcasts.
We started with an introductory episode that introduced the concepts and the research. Then we did a series of industry-based podcasts. If you're in Insurance, listen to this one. If you're in Life Sciences, listen to this one. That allowed people to select what mattered to them, while absorbing more detail and more context.
The thing that I got the best feedback from was the fact that we did these as a Q&A. I was the moderator, interviewing the people driving the concept. So, the podcasts had the authenticity of being a conversation – which meant we got our message heard.
Want to learn more? At Message Heard, we make podcasts that help your brand reach new audiences. Find out how we can help you by getting in touch.