Podcast 3 - Communication case studies
===
[00:00:00] Hi there and welcome. For two decades, I've been a global speaker to big groups around the world. With my educational background in teaching and framework design has supported my strength to coach, to consult people with diverse backgrounds. Languages, unique communication styles, personalities, beliefs.
Taking all of this into consideration with each individual. By actively listening, I develop a framework that meets their individual needs, and I adapt my teaching style to better support their learning. Effective communication isn't about talking. It's about listening and understanding the unique needs and interests of your audience.
too
The question for this podcast is about confidence and about listening at work. What we're doing today is we're gonna look at some case studies, some communication case studies.
Confidence has a massive[00:01:00] impact on communication.
High anxiety is the number one reason that we don't perform well. Imagine if we could just take anxiety off the table that we were just confident and we could just have a conversation with someone. How would that look in your business? How would that look with your staff? How would that look in your community?
Mindset is huge. Mindset is a really big way to curb anxiety, to help communication, confidence, mindset and experience. The more you do something, the more you get out of your comfort zone. The more you do it, the more you get out of your communication comfort zone, the more you practice that communication. Outside of your comfort zone, the easier it gets.
Okay. One really important communication tool is listening. It's not even speaking.
Listening is a form of communication.
We were planning a birthday party and we were telling my daughter's friend, Maya, about all [00:02:00] the fun things that we were gonna do. And so Maya was listening, but she was also, she was also distracted by her phone and she wasn't listening to all of the details. So the day of the party, Maya shows up late and without a gift because she didn't realize it was a surprise party.
Right? So people were hurt, people were upset and Maya was upset. You know, people thought she didn't care about the party. So this lack of attentive listening caused a big miscommunication and some, some hurt feelings. So, that is a really important reason to listen. How do you do it in the workplace?
So I had a student, one of my students, she worked as a customer service representative for a store, and she had worked there for years, many years, well, at least two years. And she, so she was really good at.
Listening to the tone of the voice. It was over, it was over a phone. So she listened to the customer's complaints, [00:03:00] things like that. So one day she received a complaint from a customer who had, had a bad experience with, I don't know, with a product that, that they were sent. So instead of apologizing and offering a refund, she listened to the customer's concerns and she just listened.
And then she began to ask some follow up questions that she had been practicing and she was, she she had taken a conflict resolution class or a course, and she had sort of a script. And so she had some follow up questions ready to fully understand the issue. Then she worked with the customer to find a solution.
And this is common in in our businesses, right? This isn't uncommon, but because she listened so attentively to the customer, she was able to turn this really negative experience into a really positive one. And we've all had these experiences, whether we were on the receiving end, whether we were the one calling and saying, you said that [00:04:00] I would get a free gift if I signed up for this class and you never sent it.
Right? We have been the ones to stand up for what we want, and we have also had to stand up for our own company or our own values as well. How is the communication working there? Are you confident to be able to do that?
I worked with teams a lot. I worked with, it was called a student support team, and we were always tasked with creating learning plans, individual learning plans for students or for groups of students. Kind of like if you were creating a new campaign for a client. I guess that's pretty similar. So we as a team, we came from different backgrounds, really different backgrounds.
We had different beliefs. We had different, values, we were from all different countries. We spoke different languages, right? So we all had different ideas about how to approach. We were all taught differently at different universities, for example. So how did, how do we [00:05:00] come together with all of our different ideas and approach this project or approach this, this learning plan.
Instead of talking it over with each other, everyone just started throwing ideas out and at the end of the meeting, that one particular meeting, we had no answers. Our ideas weren't very good. Nobody was happy. We just, we didn't communicate well. So that was just an example of what has happened in the past.
But there have also been times, for example, instead of talking over each other and just throwing ideas and shooting ideas down, we, we really practiced that idea of active listening, giving each other a chance to fully explain their ideas, really listening and not the kind of listening where. I have my ideas going on.
I wanna say what I wanna say, so hurry up and finish so I can say what I wanna say. We, we, we've all done that, right? We have, we've all done that, but active listening, [00:06:00] not thinking about our own ideas, but just really hearing the other person and then working together to build off each other's strengths, right?
And come up with a plan or a new campaign, whatever it is that your business is doing that satisfies the clients, what the client needs. So really by listening to each other just helps you work collaboratively and create a successful project in the end.
That's just a couple of case studies. I know that. Just a couple of stories about how listening is a critical, really important component of effective communication in the workplace, in the community with your cohorts. It helps build trust, resolves conflicts, and fosters collaboration. What would your business, what would your organization look like if you had all of these pieces working where your staff, where people who worked within the organization were really [00:07:00] able to express themselves respectfully, confidently, and develop themselves with really careful curated communication.
Imagine what that would look like.
Thank you so much for listening and being part of this podcast. If you enjoyed it and you want more, if you have any questions, visit my social media channels. They are listed below the podcast and show notes, and I can be founded irene McCann consulting.com. Have a great week, have a great weekend.
Communicate well with each other.
