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Chapter 98 KNOWLEDGE IS IMPORTANT BUT PASSION IS THE KEY Check out this letter from Tom Vishia, who had some strong criticism of a column examining the importance of passion when communicating in public. Tom says,“I’m a communications consultant with over 30 years experience. . . . We do a lot of work on presentation skills and I respectfully disagree with your premise, Steve, that communicating ‘clearly’ has more to do with your passion about the topic than anything else. . . . It’s all about skills and coaching. . . . Caring about something without the requisite skills will still result in an ineffective and unclear message.” Tom, you have to learn to get out of your shell and say what you really think! Your comments are appreciated, except I never said having skills and tools weren’t important to improving your public speaking. I wrote that having all the communication skills in the world without passion makes for a pretty uninspiring presentation. Passion remains the missing ingredient for all too many well-intentioned professionals when communicating in the workplace. Joe Sutton works for a communications company in New York and has some real concerns about the internal communication at his firm. “Some problems we encounter are no returns on e-mails, meetings moved up without consulting the involved parties, and conference calls that drag on and on.”He also says that one of the biggest problems is that 213 upper management distances itself from the majority of the company. He asks,“How does someone communicate that their boss’s communication is terrible when they apparently don’t want to hear it? Or do they?” That’s a tough one, Joe. I suggest you organize an informal brownbag lunch with your coworkers and some key decision makers in the company. The purpose of the session should be to have an open, candid, and productive discussion about specific ways to address the abovementioned communication issues in the company. Check out our web site, www.stand-deliver.com, for a past column on facilitating dialogue. An article on constructive feedback prompted Rich Biddulph to respond this way. “Here’s a cardinal rule I’ve incorporated over my career and it presumes that most all employees are trying their best but are not perfect:Always remind an employee of what they do well and always provide the criticism of shortcomings in a positive manner. . . . There has to be some positive attribute of all employees and they need to be reminded of that.” Rich uses the following phrase that he says has been helpful, “I appreciate how you _______ during this project. You can be more effective in the next project if you _______.” Rich, your approach of looking for the positive in people is refreshing . Let’s hope that others will take your advice and follow suit. Rhoda Joseph, a former educator, wrote about the importance of schools helping young people reach their potential as confident and compelling communicators. “Schools could do much to give students a sense of ease in all forms of oral expression whether they involve interviews , speeches or one-to-one conversations. As a poet and writer, I derive considerable satisfaction in sharing poems and views in group settings . I credit imaginative and caring teachers for providing me with the motivation to do so.” Rhoda, you are so right. So many of the communication habits that we take into the workplace are a product of what we were taught in school. I see it beginning with my twelve-year-old son. Unfortunately, many of those habits have not been particularly helpful. Clearly in your case, that didn’t happen. 214 MAKE THE CONNECTION ...

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