It doesn’t matter whether it’s a customer, client, child, spouse, co-worker, or members of a board or committee. You must connect in the manner that resonates with them. It sounds difficult, but it really isn’t once you start practicing it.

Types of communication:

Informing – Some people just want the facts laid out for them. They pay attention to facts and figures, studies and other concrete data.

Analyzing – These people don’t want specific facts, but rather a summary. You need to offer an analysis and boil down the information or request in a meaningful matter.

Persuasive – This type of person wants to know what’s in it for them. Why should they agree to act in a certain way or perform a specific action? They must be convinced. Present your argument.

Mediating – Compromise, compromise. With these people, you have to be willing to give a little. They need to feel heard and respected. Find the common ground and find the solution that satisfies you both.

Emotional – This kind of communication is all about feelings. Knowing what is important and what touches these people is the key. Appeal to their emotions and connect on a compassionate and understanding level.

Entertaining – Wit, humor and levity influences these people. Serious facts are useless, be interesting and lighthearted when possible.

Inspiring – Offer motivation, inspiration, and big picture results. These people need to feel as though they are making a difference, some kind of impact.

The way to practice communication that is more effective requires that you improve your observation and listening skills. Pay attention to the people around you and be more interested in general. We could all use a little more of that.

What type of communicator are you? It helps to understand that too.

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Social media. It’s the buzz word, the wave of the future, the way business is done in the 21^st century…

But if you’re missing the point of the whole social media game…then it’s just the biggest time waster in history!

What you may be doing wrong

It’s not about the numbers – Let’s be clear on this point. It’s great to have millions of Twitter followers and Facebook fans, but this fanatic obsession we have with accumulating followers is insane. It gets us NOWHERE. There is no value in a multitude of fans if they don’t really care about what you have to say. It’s about conversations, relationships and engagement, not masses.

It’s not a marketing plan – Social media participation and information sharing can and should be (in my opinion, I won’t say humble) a valuable channel for marketing efforts. But it can’t be the whole enchilada. If you think you can just post some tweets, get some buzz going and business will magically appear, you are mistaken. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Marketing needs to be a multi-pronged approach. Depending on your business or service you may need print, radio or TV advertising, possibly interne ads or to attend business shows, speaking engagements or workshops and you most definitely need a website.

Stop doing all the talking – Social media is only valuable when it’s a two-way cycle. You share information, others comment, you take in information and offer contribution to others. Information and conversation; in and out. Listening is just as valuable as talking.

Results are not necessarily in direct proportion to efforts – The more time you spend on social media, the better results you get, right? WRONG. At a certain point, the extra time you spend on social media communication is just wasted time that you could be using for other things, say creating, selling or connecting in person. Determine ahead of time how much time is reasonable for this portion of your marketing effort, schedule it in your day and stick to it.

It doesn’t happen overnight – Don’t try to follow 10,000 people right away. You’ll just come across as a spammer. Be discerning, build your “network” gradually and consistently. Be selective, be targeted, be clear on what your objectives are.

One last tidbit, social media should be enjoyable and interesting. If you’re not having fun and learning new and interesting things and meeting fabulous new people…then you’re doing it all wrong.

Question everything, move forward, enjoy the journey.

To complain according to dictionary.com means to express dissatisfaction, pain, uneasiness, censure, resentment, or grief; find fault: He complained constantly about the noise in the corridor.

In my experience, real-life occurrences of complaining are more about whining, moaning and *itching about something or someone that has upset or ticked us off, but which we really have no intention of doing anything about. So why bother?

Just for today, commit to cease complaining. You may be surprised if you pay attention, by how often we complain to others or in our heads. Notice how much calmer and happier you are. Now use all of that energy you saved to move forward and do something positive in your life.

If you are interested in learning more, read Complaint Free World by Will Bowen.