Creative Ways to Get Your Point Across …

Your brain is mighty powerful, and it tends to come up with all sorts of magical ideas. Realistically, as an entrepreneur is can be very, very easy to get lost in thought process and maybe even forget all about the “doing”.

So, let’s be honest for a moment here … We all want to be heard. It is gratifying, empowering and makes us feel valued. We want others to get who we are (personally and professionally) and to hear our ideas and valid arguments, even if they don’t agree with us – though, of course, we’d like that as well. What we may not realize is that the best way to get our point across is often counter-intuitive, to be successful we must try less and listen more. By doing this, your point (or idea) will become more vivid in the recipient’s mind.

Have you been feeling stuck lately on getting your point across with some of your clients (or peers)? Having a heck of a time just getting them to listen? Feeling frustrated? Or, maybe not feeling heard at all?

To help ease the pain of not being heard (I have been there – I understand) here are a couple ways to help you ease into some creative ways of actually getting your point (and ideas) across …

Plot the course and know where you’re going.

A strategy is required. Your creative energies need to be clear, concise and focuses on whatever it is that needs fixing. It’s okay to let yourself get a little crazy. Just roll with it. Write down the main point/idea/issue as well as the ideal outcome you’re hoping to achieve. Now plot the course of the “road travelled” to get to this outcome. Keep in mind, when you’re sharing this course of action, you want the recipient to be imagining the entire process while you’re going through the motions and once you’ve reached the end of your “speech”, you want them to imagine the end results (aka. Outcome) has been reached/achieved. You want them to envision the feeling of achievement and not just think of it as some long-lost fantasy. A picture creates a thousand words. So, build and inspire!

Drop the corporate attitude.

You want to not what sways people when they’re sitting on the fence with a good idea … emotion, integrity and logic. If you don’t tap into one’s emotions, you won’t get your message across. It’s truly as simple as that. Emotion drives change. And change drives accomplishments.

Reinforce the end goal.

A huge part of communication is also being a good listener. The conversation must flow two-ways and not just be some giant brain dump! Momentum builds when you bring the conversation together to deliver ideation and execution. Remember, an idea (or point that needs to get across) is only a seed; it takes a cross-functional conversation (and maybe team as well) to bring it alive.

As you can see here, effective communication is at the crux of any success.

For fun, let’s peek at an infographic that talks about current trends in business communication, curtesy of KnowTechie …