Purchasing

Mary Walker

How to Communicate
July 10, 2007

I was cleaning out my office and came across a file on a class I took at a junior college on public speaking. Not having much training or confidence in speaking before a group, I found that when I had to speak on something I was involved in, rather than something I researched, my attitude was different. I felt much more comfortable talking about something I was familiar with or worked with. 

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE – What group are you presenting to? What’s their knowledge and expertise on what you are speaking on? What do you want them to know? If you are talking to a group that knows nothing about the subject, they won’t know if you mess up. However, if you realize you misquoted something, correct it. You don’t want them quoting you with bad information.

KNOW YOUR MESSAGE – Have one single key point. Avoid the crutch words, “I feel,” “I believe,” “I think.” Avoid the crutch words also in written communication. As much as this was drilled in to us in school, “I” is a hard word to avoid.

ANTICIPATE QUESTIONS – Think about what you might be asked and prepare an answer. Sometimes this is difficult, you get blindsided. Think before you speak. 

Sometimes there is a person in the audience that wants to dominate the session.

If it continues, simply ask them to speak to you after the meeting and you will be happy to discuss the issues with them. It makes a bad meeting, when one person insists on controlling the floor.  

AVOID JARGON – Be careful of acronyms, clichés your audience may not understand. Some listeners may not know purchasing terms. Remember we have a dictionary for our purchasing field, someone else might not know what we are talking about.

TELL THE TRUTH – Honesty is the best policy. If you don’t know the answer, say you don’t know the answer. Ask them to leave a business card after the meeting and you will find out and reply. Try not to act like an expert on everything. Admit you don’t know.

I have always wanted to attend the toastmasters group. Actually at one time, I had a boss that was going to let me attend the lunch meetings once a month. Before I got started, he quit and then it was not in the agenda with the new boss.

To be a good speaker is one of the greatest assets in the business world.  I have friends that travel around the country speaking to organizations. They seem so at ease. As they say, it takes practice. All of us have opportunities, in professional organizations, in church activities, in school functions and even family reunions. Start stepping up to the podium and build that confidence. 

If you want something done or you want to change something, sometimes you must present your proposal to a group. You must be able to present and persuade your audience. Don’t pass up opportunities to speak; this will benefit you in your career and also in your personal life. 

Posted by Mary Walker on July 10, 2007 | Comments (0)