What Does It Mean To Communicate With Impact?
Want to be ahead of the game – from job interviews to a promotion in your current role?
Learn how to communicate with impact.
Communication is up there with the top interpersonal skills you need to thrive in your career.
If you’ve ever watched the people who do well at work, can work the room at a party or get the best service wherever they go, you might notice they have one thing in common:
Brilliant communication skills.
That doesn’t mean they are smooth talkers or oozing with confidence. It means they know how to communicate with impact – they can get their message across in a way that really strikes a chord with their audience and inspires action.
Trust us, if you want to achieve your dream career, this is an interpersonal skill worth pursuing.
We’re here to help. In this article, you’ll learn what it truly means to communicate with impact and how sharpening this soft skill can skyrocket your career success.
Let’s go…
What it means to communicate with impact
Communication is the most effective way that humans make connections, develop relationships, share information and ideas, and build trust. Out of all the interpersonal skills, it’s the one that everybody needs in work and life.
But when we talk about “communication”, most people will think about good speakers or writers. You may even consider yourself a good communicator because you’re a whizz at presenting or can write a nicely worded email.
We’re not saying those are skills you shouldn’t care about – they definitely have a place.
But communicating with impact is about more than that.
It means considering your audience, what information you want to share and the best way to share it to ensure that the message is understood and, most importantly, inspires action.
Choosing the right way to communicate is a big part of this.
The workplace is becoming more and more digital, especially as more people are working from home. The channel you choose to communicate has an impact on how your message is received.
Let’s say you tell your boss a brilliant new idea. You could tell them over email or messenger, but the brilliance of the idea would likely be lost or diluted.
Now, if you tell them in person, you have a better opportunity to use your body language and energy to inspire them with the idea.
Why is it important to communicate with impact?
Did you know almost 80% of your day is spent in some form of communication?
Stop and think for a moment about all the different ways you communicate with people – talking, emails, messages, presentations, notes, and so much more.
This means if you don’t master the soft skill of communication, you are spending a huge part of your day not performing at your best.
Worse, you are spending a huge part of your day not being properly understood by your colleagues, managers or clients.
The reality is that sharpening this one soft skill and learning to communicate with impact will play a massive role in your career success. Every day you will be engaging with a variety of different people in the workplace, and outside of it, so having the interpersonal skills to adapt and deliver your message effectively is the key to hitting your career goals.
This soft skill will help you build stronger relationships, influence others and get things done as a team. It helps you build trust, avoid misunderstanding, and resolve disputes.
Most importantly, you’ll get more work done, you’ll be happier at work and you’ll get ahead.
Here’s how learning to communicate with impact can get you ahead:
1. Land a job interview and pass the selection process.
Communicating with impact is about being persuasive, which can help you get the job you want and that raise you deserve. How you present yourself through your words, whether in writing or speaking, reflects on you as a person and how capable you are.
2. Sell your ideas at work and land that promotion.
Without the ability to communicate with impact, you miss the opportunity to persuade and inspire others, especially in a digitally-focused business environment. It’s not just about conveying your information but ensuring that others listen and act. That means engaging your audience, often through storytelling.
Think about TED Talks. These pithy presentations have the power to influence thousands (or even millions) of people with ideas. Now that’s what we call high impact communication.
3. Build trust and develop rock-solid relationships.
Trust is critical in communication. After all, how can you expect people to listen to what you are saying, to be inspired and motivated if they don’t trust you?
How can you expect your manager to give you more responsibility without feeling trust in you?
Research shows that within the first seven seconds of meeting, people will have a solid impression of who you are — and some research suggests a tenth of a second is all it takes to judge traits like trustworthiness.
The bottom line? You need to know how to communicate with impact to build trust and strengthen relationships in the workplace.
4. Navigate challenging conversations and solve problems.
Nobody likes conflict in the workplace. But the reality is that sometimes you are going to need to manage difficult conversations. Some will be slightly awkward, others might be fully confrontational.
The good news is that learning to communicate with impact will help you deal with these difficult conversations (and difficult people), so that you can solve problems while avoiding conflict. You’ll even be able to better handle those work jerks.
Hint: It’s about listening as much as it is about talking.
Over to you
Communicating with impact is an interpersonal skill everyone should master. It teaches you how to take control of your actions and words so that you can ensure your message is not only heard, but understood. If you take the time to learn how to properly communicate with impact, you can supercharge your career – from the moment you step into the interview, to the day you inspire your co-workers with that incredible new idea and score that promotion.
To start developing your human skills today, simply download the Hodie app, or explore Maxme’s menu of human skills programs for organisations or schools.
Prefer to talk through your options? Contact us at any time.
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