$197

Instagram Reels? Stories?  Snapchat? TicTok? LinkedIn LIVE?  Twitter Chat? Video? Podcast? Flyers? Ads? Text?  FB Messenger?  Text?  Direct Message? Email? Telephone?  The list is endless!!

SO MANY RESOURCES TO CHOOSE FROM? They all shout “winning” reasons for using them … so should you use ALL of them? Only a few? Do the bells & whistles make a difference?

Where do you begin? Here is something for you to try … BEGIN just like you do when looking to hire a person. Create a job description of what you need done and then interview the applicants!

Example #1:

You need a resource that will enable you to attract people to your business. The job description might be something like this:

“this job requires having access to new contacts, either directly or indirectly, that match our targeted demographics, i.e.  professionals over 40 who need guidance for changing their career. Also required is the ability to be relationship oriented, i.e. the ability to support the successful establishing of rapport; and transparently lead new contacts to an awareness of our existence.  Soft selling support is very important. Must also support trust building techniques.”

TickTok, Facebook, Instagram Reels, and LinkedIn apply.  You immediately thank and dismiss TikTok and facebook because of the age demographics. Instagram Reels & LinkedIn definitely are stronger and both can support developing  awareness. LinkedIn may have a stronger access to the targeted demographic and also multiple methods for supporting indirect & direct ways to attract contacts….. LinkedIn would get the job offer.

Example #2: 

A trainer is needed for trainings on a new machine that helps moms do the laundry. The trainer must be able to instill the simplicity of using the machine, and how it is one of a kind. 

Applicants include a pdf doc detailing each step in using the machine; a slideshow showing each step of using the machine with photos & easy to read written description below;  a recorded video; a facebook live training upon purchase. 

• The pdf and the slideshow are eliminated as not being able to simplify the process as successfully as the other applicants.
  .
• Video is intriguing as it could serve two roles … one for training and one for marketing. It can also be referred to after the initial training.
  .   
• The live facebook could be excellent for training as it allows live Q & A. It’s a lot more restrictive but could definitely deepen customer bonding and contribute towards loyalty. 
  .
  This becomes a toss up! Maybe both applicants could be hired?  OR maybe the job search continues … find more “applicants” for that PERFECT match!!

An added benefit to writing out your job descriptions for each required task in your business is that you start thinking of things that would not necessarily come to mind. In writing example #2, the live Q& A is something I hadn’t thought about until I started writing!!  You also pick up much more clarity on what you are doing and why!  

Start playing with this approach.  Use it for any task.  Who/what can best open doors?  Who/what can best nurture and lead prospects? Who/what can best service existing customers?  

Explore which resources can best support and/or deliver the messaging needed at the right time … for example, in many cases videos are not great for attracting people who are not yet looking for what you offer, as they have no reason to click the video open much less take the time to watch.  However with the right product a video might be a great for attracting … for example, if you sell camping gear, videos on our national parks, etc. might do a great job attracting future prospects.  

It all comes down to your job description. 

Worse case, this exercise, forces you to give some deeper thought to your marketing/selling needs and how you address those needs. 

Here’s to your communications success in 2022!

#communicationsstrong 

margie

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  2022 IS ABOUT CONNECTING & MAKING CONNECTIONS  ~ ~  And the best place to initiate connections for our business growth, believe it or not, is within ourself! Having clarity on the starting point of our connections with others sets the direction for what we need and seek for connections to and from our business and to and from our buyers.

To be truly connected we need to be truly emersed in all the primary components of our business … what I refer to as the trifecta of “source”
for all business communications…the buyer, our business, and our self … and it begins with ourself.

It’s a practice that is done by many at this time of the year, when we are all “bright eyed and bushy tailed” for refreshing and upping our game. But a single review of our “connectivity” at the beginning of the year is hardly enough. Without continually re-syncing our connection to ourselves and our “trifecta”… logically, emotionally, purpose and passion,etc  … gaps will open and enlarge as time slips by. Existing and new connections will become looser and looser and we can find ourselves way off track in who we are pursuing for business success. We might find ourselves lost on a path to lower paying clients, missing the mark for what our business is truly all about, simply connecting to what is easy and convenient for what will get us by? Is anything resonating??

How often should it be? Some people practice it daily with a short morning meditation. If that works for you, I applaud it!  Otherwise, no less than weekly is what I recommend.  It simply involves connecting ourselves to our business…. be you a business owner or employee. Take a quiet moment to truly connect your mind and your heart to the three elements of business conversation for your business…

1) Reflect upon yourself. Why are you a part of the industry and why and why are you in your current role? How did you get here? What are the emotions, passions, goals, values and PURPOSE for you behind being here.

2) Reflect on your connectivity with your buyers .. what do you have in common industry wise and even purpose wise with those you seek as a connection for your business.  What is the ideal mindset they will have… industry wise, career wise, goals, passion, ambition, feelings, etc. And of course how does what you offer play into the results they envision for
themselves and for the work that they do! What is the tightest connection?

3) Reflect upon all elements of your business .. the individual products and services and how they deliver results that provide the answers and solutions being sought after by your “connections!” Go through each offering, via you mind and heart, and reflect upon the value they hold for others.

Follow this practice and feel a recharging of energy within yourself to the elements of your business. Have clarity for your outreach to your connections .. where, when, how, why and WHO! Be confident, excited, ready for identifying and securing the matches that qualify as the best connections for your business success.

If you’d like some assistance for becoming familiar with your trifecta, custom training is always available. I also recommend my Content Marketing and Messaging Expertise program in which  working 1-on-1 we cover it all and more! Click here for details! 

Happy New Year!!  #communicationsstrong
.
Here’s to your communications success in 2022!

margie

310-306-1453

COMMUNICATIONS! COMMUNICATIONS! COMMUNICATIONS! For 2022, it’s the new “Location! Location: Location!” cry for 2022 success!.

Happy New Year!   2022 is tomorrow and I wish you the most successful of years, business wise and health wise!   Contributing to both will be what I’m talking about here … communications!!   Have you noticed that everywhere you look, quality communications is the prescription for making everything better and positioned for success!  It is the newly recognized “glue.”

By “communications” I mean, engaging and going deeper into conversations than just surface chit chat … exploring the why’s, how’s and what’s that are behind and/or beneath what is being shared and discussed in engaging communications. You might call it “tending” to the topic at hand … giving whatever is being discussed,attention and care …”tending” to the elements within our conversations with others –  both written and verbal!

Communicating is the “newly” prescribed cure for:
– Seller to buyer success
– Leadership success
– Team and peer-to-peer success
– Management success especially with hybrid office situations
– Family success
– Relationship success
– Self-confidence success, our conversations with ourselves!

WHERE & HOW to begin?  

1. Be aware! Look for the needs & opportunities: 
   Where are your weak links with people,
   Where are your weak links with yourself?
   What needs to be strengthened?
   What needs to be “tended” to?
2. Begin engaging with what you have in common with the other person:
   What do you share?
   What is a common denominator between your lives?
   The ideas can be many especially depending upon what you are trying to improve. Maybe its:
   – how you both ended up working at the same company?
   – a currently shared success?
   – how the drive in the pouring rain was that AM?
   – liking of what one is wearing & story behind it?
   – what made you fall in love?
   …again.. something you have in common where there “is” strength”
3. Lead the conversation from the strength to the weakness and then ask questions to get agreement on the weakness. DO NOT ACCUSE anyone of weakness. The mindset is that “A SITUATION” is not working.
4. Explore and encourage a sharing of thoughts, feelings, ideas for improving,”the situation” i.e. develop a feeing of camaraderie and fellowship … remembering that both and/or all participants are respected and valuable.
5. Tend to the deeper elements of the weakness. Really nurture shared ideas and thoughts within your communications so that all discussed will be remembered and given attention after the immediate communications are over. Godeep. Go beyond surface chit chat which will accomplish nothing.
6.  Enjoy a strengthened “situation” and/or an elimination of a problem!  But keep your eye on it as it solidifies… .managing its twists and turns as all progresses into the next “situation” that needs tending to!

Can these 6 steps be applied to written communications, marketing communications, all business communications?  Absolutely, YES, the same process.is used as you develop your communications strategies.  Giving guidance and direction
on this is what I do. Apply it to simply conversations, marketing campaigns,
selling …. where ever you need strengthening and/or a sale!!

Happy New Year!! Let me know how I might be of assistance in 2022.
.
Here’s to your communications success in 2022!

margie

310-306-1453
#communicationsstrong 

.
How great is it to have a captive audience?  When your listeners hang on to every word you say as you speak to a group or even just a single individual!   There are some people who experience this magic every time they speak.  You can probably think of a few right now who always have people stop and listen to every word they say.

“Let me tell you a story” is an opening that captures an attentive audience pretty consistently! Stories have a successful track record from our childhood to adulthood  in making us stop and listen.   When someone says, “let me tell you a story,” you can almost feel a shift in your “being” as you go into a more relaxed mode.  You sit back and listen, and “connect!”

So what is it about stories?  What do stories do?   First they get our attention, directing us away from where we are. Then something happens and we become totally attentive as the story unfolds. Lastly closure is provided.  Each segment flows to the next.  AND within each segment, each sentence connects and flows to the next as do each of the words used in each sentence … bringing you into the “tide” of the story, and keeping you there (via the structure) until the ending!

When a story ends, you walk away with a complete A-Z communication that via its completeness has been listened to and heard.  The pieces “connect & flow” AND MOST IMPORTANTLY the “communication” is remembered because of the “closure” that is used.  How often, when asked to describe a book or a movie, do you maybe get fuzzy on the pieces of the “happening” but you can always share how it ends …right?

The story structure works wonderfully, as you would expect, when telling an actual story and/or when putting your marketing message into a story scenario.  BUT ALSO, the story structure works wonderfully in ALL types of communications.

Lets break down the structure of a story as you might implement it in ALL types of communications:

1. OPENING!
   Openings are used to catch attention, set the stage, get your listeners & readers in sync,  get your listeners & readers positioned & ready to hear the next part of your communication. Openings can vary in style:
   Simple: ATTENTION!  HEADS UP!  PICTURE THIS!
   Targeting:  Are You A 45+ Year Old Runner?
   Introductory Statement:  A love of soccer is sweeping the USA!!!
   Actual Story Telling:  A Financial Planning client came into my office today.  His pain was great and his stress level high!
   .
2. SOMETHING HAPPENS!
   From the stage that is set in the opening, a message is shared. The message might be:
   An announcement
   Sharing of information.
   Adding life with scenarios of the statement
   Making a point.
   Sharing emotions.
   A happening.
   An actual story
   .
3. CLOSURE!
   Closure provides completeness, an ending  …something that is required by our human DNA.  We look for it in everything we do, from eating dessert, to knowing the answer to a mystery, to getting over a loved one’s death, to finishing a book,  to graduating from schools ,… we thrive on having “closure & completeness!”
   .
   When you provide closure, even in the simplest of communication it is like dotting the “i” and crossing the “t.”  If you don’t provide it, you can get by without it … people usually know what you mean or fill in their own closure, BUT it is so much stronger and you make a much more cleaner “complete” connection when you do dot the “i” & cross the “t.”
   .
   Adding closure to all your business communications, short & long  will add that extra glue for connecting to and captivating your audiences. Closure can be of several types with each type, in one way or another, summarizing & delivering the WHY of your communications. Some of the types are:
   Simple Statement:  See You There!
   Call To Action:   Buy Now!  
   Emotion:  Cheers & Joy!
   Direct WHY:  To Your HEALTH!
   A Result:  They lived happily ever after.

Use the structure of a story in ALL your communications, short & long. Here is a short communication shown with partial use of a story structure and then with complete use of the story structure:

1. With partial story structure– using Opening & Message only.
   Greetings! Have a wonderful day.
   This can work, i.e you can get by with this. Does it captivate?
   .
2. With complete story structure–  adding a “closure” with the WHY.
   Greetings! Have a wonderful day. You deserve it.

Quietly say both of  these greetings to yourself as though you are receiving them from someone else and see if you experience an extra “bond” when (the why) “you deserve it” is added at the end. Specifically including the “why” … not assuming it .. provides immediate clarity for “connecting!”  AND I ask you, which greeting “captivates” you more?

There are so many ways to apply the story structure to your business communications for having captive audiences. Turning your marketing messages into stories is an obvious and very KEY way.  Structuring “ALL” your communications around the story structure is a bigger way that will enable you to tremendously increase your connectivity with all audiences both online AND offline.

If you are catching on to what I am sharing, start creating your communications  with the story structure and let me know the differences you experience.

If you are not quite comfortable with how you would start using the story structure, I  invite you to schedule a private workshop with me for assistance.  We can customize a workshop specific to your business and your learning needs. Your email or phone call is welcomed.  310-306-1453 or margieh@todaysway.net  You also may be interested in my Content Marketing & Messaging Expertise Program … click here for all details:

In today’s business world, making less than “complete” connections with your audiences is almost equal to making no connections. There is just too much information out there.  You can’t afford to be lost in the crowd.  You must know how to  “captivate”  will all your communications.

Join me in saying, “YES” To Having Captive Audiences!

Enjoy ….
margie
310-305-1453

 

Be Curious! There is no better message to send for maximizing these last few months of 2021 than the message of “being curious!” I’ve been exercising it and it’s a magic ticket to opening new doors, new contacts, new opportunities and new business!!!

Toddlers are wonderful at being curious. Is there anything more pure? When we are young, we are in such awe of the simplest things… taking in each new experience, item, taste, sound 200% …with such a wholeness as we connect to each new experience. Then something happens … I don’t know when, but at some point we decide we know the answers … no more exploring… no more curiosity. And it gets worse when we decide we know the answers & outcomes to future events and happenings.  And then we wonder why we feel old???? How dare we!

Pull out your curiosity as you go into these final months of the year. Wipe your mind clean of all pre-conceived notions and take on each day with “curiosity!” Take a walk and look around as if you were a toddler….. see what you discover of interest. Why is that tree different? How was that door designed? What is the most popular car in your neighborhood? Just start asking questions of all you see! Bet you discover some items you’ve never noticed before.

Another way to exercise curiosity is to realize that “everything” is a miracle. Take that thought and look around. The pencil on your desk at one point in time was a miracle! Who thought of this idea? The streetlights were at one time a miracle! Who designed the first streetlight and what is the story behind it?  So many things around us that we just take for granted and yet, I bet, have fascinating stories to discover and know.

Be curious with each other!! Show interest. Ask questions. Inquire about one’s day or week! Is there anyone who doesn’t feel a bit better when someone they know shows an interest in what they’ve got going on?  Cares about how they are doing?  It just takes some curiosity and a question or two to make someone’s day and therefore, your day will be made as well!

And how many times have I heard business professionals say they don’t know what to say at networking events and/or online with messaging, etc.  Just be curious!  Go up to someone and simply ask how did you happen to come to this event? Be curious!!  Online & offline, be curious about your prospects. Ask questions! Be interested! Explore! It’s not about you … it’s all about them. Be curious!!

Maybe there is an uncomfortable emotional situation that needs to be managed but you don’t know how? Ask caring questions such as can I help you sort this out? Or can we talk about what brought you to this point?  Be curious but again, also caring …. with sensitivity to your timing.

In business, there is no need to sell your prospects. Simply be curious and ask them questions! Find the needs they have that match your solutions and discover how you and your prospect are a win/win!!! Also be interested in the industry you share with them … the industry that seeds the needs for which you have solutions. Inquire about how they arrived in this industry, what their role involves. Share your own interest and participation in this industry and how it might relate to them. Be curious!!! Uncover all the nuances that will lead your clients to you because … as you show interest, they in turn will be interested in you!

Curiosity will open doors!  Curiosity will create new relationships! Curiosity will develop new business!  Curiosity will build trust, credibility, and loyalty.

Take on the remaining months of 2021 with curiosity!!!  Continue being curious throughout 2022!!  Then share your success stories with me… I’ll be waiting!

Curiosity has been keeping me busy with several new aspects to my business.  The newest is forming a membership group, something that has been mentioned to me but I always have “pre-answered”,(without knowing more), that a membership group would not apply to me! Well, finally last spring I became curious!!!  I explored all that membership groups are and who has them and for what reasons.  Long story short, I am so excited ( like a little kid) that I became curious and am in the process of creating a membership group for those who are not comfortable, have a fear, or are just not successful with selling!  I will be launching it soon with a very low founding member fee. The number of founding members will be limited so if you would like to be on the list of “first to know” when the launch opens, send me an email, margieh@todaysway.net and I will include you. IT IS GOING TO BE GREAT!!!

Couple of other exciting things are also happening … thanks to being curios…. but will wait to share in future posts!  Until then, BE CURIOUS!!! You will find new energy & new opportunities!!

Be #communicationsstrong

Here’s to your communications success!

margie

Facebook? YouTube? Instagram Reels? Stories? Facebook? Snapchat? TicTok? LinkedIn? Twitter? Video? Ads? Text? Messenger? Text Message? Direct Message? Email? Phone? Facebook LIVE!

SO MANY ONLINE RESOURCES TO CHOOSE FROM? They all shout “winning” reasons for using them … so should you use ALL of them? Only a few? Do the bells & whistles make a difference?

Do you ever get swept up with these decisions? There are different ways to go if you do find yourself overwhelmed,  ranging from ignoring them all and sticking with what you know  to switching to the newest and latest features on the top winning resource of the month!

Here’s an idea for you. …  Interview & hire your resources like you would an employee! After all, our resources are our employees … yes?  We use resources to perform specific jobs for us. They are the mediums for our messaging … just like we hire employees to be the mediums, i.e. carriers of our messaging!!

AND we wouldn’t hire the sales person of the year if they were not right for our purposes.. .right? So it is imperative to know our purposes and hire those that can achieve those purposes.

Where do you begin? Just like you do when looking to hire someone – you begin with a job description of what you need done and then you interview applicants!

Example #1: You need a resource that will enable you to attract people to your business. The job description might be something like this:

“ this job requires having access to new contacts, either directly or indirectly,  that match our targeted demographics, professionals over 40 who need guidance for changing their career. Also required is the ability to be relationship oriented, i.e. know how to first establish rapport and  transparently lead new contacts to an awareness of our existence.  Soft selling important.  Must be able to build trust.”

TicTok, Facebook, Instagram Reels, and LinkedIn apply.  You immediately thank and dismiss TikTok and facebook because of the age demographics.  Instagram Reels & LinkedIn definitely are stronger and both are able to develop awareness…. LinkedIn may have a stronger access to the targeted demographic and also more indirect & direct ways to attract contacts….. LinkedIn would get the job offer.

Example #2:  You need a trainer for using a new machine that helps moms do the laundry. The job description might read as this:

“must be able to help new buyers know how to use a brand new machine that helps busy moms to the laundry. Must be able to instill the simplicity of using a machine, and how it is one of a kind.”

Applicants include a pdf doc detailing each step in using the machine; a slideshow showing each step of using the machine with photos & easy to read written description below;  a recorded video; a live facebook training upon purchase.  The pdf and the slideshow are eliminated as not being able to simplify the process as well as the other applicants.

Video is intriguing as it could serve two roles … one for training and one for marketing. It can also be referred to after the initial training.   The live facebook could be excellent for training as it allows live Q & A. It’s a lot more restrictive but could definitely deepen customer bonding and contribute towards loyalty. This becomes a toss up! Maybe both applicants could be hired? Something to think about.

An added benefit to writing out your job descriptions for each task required in your business is that you start thinking of things that would not necessarily come to mind. In writing example #2, the live Q& A is something I hadn’t thought about until I started writing!!  You also pick up much more clarity on what you are doing and why!

Don’t let today’s resources tell you how to communicate for “THEIR” purposes …. tell today’s resources how they will be used for “YOUR” communications and purposes!!

Start playing with this approach.  Use it for any task.  Who/what can best open new doors? Who/what can best nurture and lead prospects? Who/what can best service existing customers?  Which resources can best support and/or deliver the messaging needed at the right time, for example in many cases videos are not great for attracting people who are not yet looking for what you are about, as they have no reason to click the video open much less take the time to watch.  However with the right product a video might be a great opening, for example if you sell camping gear .. videos on our national parks etc might do a great job attracting future prospects.  It all gets down to your job description.

Worse case it forces you to give some deeper thought to your marketing/selling needs and how you address those needs.

Be #communicationsstrong

Here’s to your communications success!

margie

“How Are Business Relationships Formed?”Business Relationships, i.e. Sales/Marketing Relationships are formed in the same way as all relationships!

• First, there is a “matching” that attracts! Nothing specific, just a good feeling that there is a future to explore -> TRUST!
  .
• Second, something “specific” is discovered that is in common with both sides -> CREDIBILITY!
  .
• Third, more commonality, matches, and at a deeper level, needs and solutions are explored and acknowledged. Could this be perfect? -> EXPERTISE!
  .
• Fourth, sharing details & matching details, and more sharing details & matching details … if all are doable ……LOYALTY evolves:

–> the business relationship forms a client.

–> the schoolyard banter forms into a lifelong friendship.

–> the bar room conversation brings dating that forms marriage.

The steps within the process are the same! Don’t make it be more than it is because when doing so, the flow is gone, doubt creeps in, many miscommunications follow –> all falls apart!

Be #communicationsstrong

Here’s to your communications success!

margie

Happy Juneteenth!

PURPOSE is the topic and the purpose of today’s new federal holiday is to celebrate the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Since its first celebration, it has been observed by celebrating African American culture. So I ask, do you have a set intention or purpose for how you might celebrate today?  OR, now that I’ve presented the idea of applying purpose to the day, what might you do that you hadn’t thought of?   Maybe just call African American friends with a holiday greeting? Or support an African American business? .Both, pretty easy to do and adds some richness to their day and your day also, yes??

And back to everyday communications …  how much purpose are you putting into each of your verbal & written communications?   Do you give it any thought?   Do you ever get asked,  “So what’s your purpose?” and really have one or simply answer .. “none!  No purpose!!”

An interesting exercise to try is to pay attention to all you say and/or write within a span of a few hours. Be aware of any “purpose/intention” you apply to the words you say or write.  THEN, take the next few hours to consciously apply “purpose/intention” to the words you say or write.  Take note of any differences in the results of your communications and in how you feel about your own communications.
Let me know what you discover.

Usually we think of applying “purpose” to an overall goal –  what is the objective, what is the target we are trying to reach or achieve.   Then we apply everything to that one longer term purpose.  But, when you start to apply “purpose” to individual actions, amazing things can happen!!

Take the example of setting a purpose to be more supportive of one’s staff, fellow employees and/or friends!   We might set a general goal that sets up activities, invitations, etc.   This is all good.  However, the weakness in just setting a general goat is that the purpose can just subliminally be forgotten in an immediate interaction, conversation, correspondence. When we start consciously setting a purpose to show/provide support within each & every individual interaction/engagement being spoken or written,  our tone, our patience, our words, our results, our satisfaction with ourselves ALL improves.

I challenge you to take this on.  In these present times where emotions are raw, miscommunications take place daily, and many steps forward seem to come with more steps backwards,  we can do our part to contribute value to this world with our immediate interactions..  It simply begins with remembering, i.e. being 100% conscious of our purpose/intention for each and every individual communication we speak and/or write.

Be #communicationsstrong

Here’s to your communications success!

margie  

Conversation Rules! In business and life, conversation opens doors, lets us through doors and then helps us understand the paths taken from these doors!  Conversation identifies needs & solutions; can sooth grief; convert conflict into agreement; deepen joy; extend authentic empathy; close sales; create surprises and miracles! Conversation has no software upgrades nor does it require a financial investment. It is available to all with immediate access!

With all its greatness, conversation is bypassed by many –  those who are lost for how to open a conversation and sometimes by those who don’t know how to continue and deepen a conversation. It doesn’t matter where – in business, out and about, in the grocery store, anywhere — opportunities, for whatever the reason, are missed.

If this is happening (or not happening) to you, an easy “go to” for opening and enriching conversations are the tried and true 5 interrogatives, “who, what, when, how & why” … the 5 W’s we’ve been taught to address when we write or talk about a subject, i.e. who are you talking to, what are you saying, how do you want the audience to receive/respond to your info and when, and lastly what is your “why,” your purpose, for what you are saying.   With a small bit of tweaking, the 5 W’s are great “go to’s” when lost for words to open and/or deepen our conversations. Use them for “opening” conversations with strangers, with employees and/or with friends to discuss sensitive situations, create engagement with prospects & clients, deepen relationships, explore differences, and more!

Let’s look at each one:

WHY: Why is used when curious! If you’ve lived with a 2 -3 year old you are very familiar with “why?” However, it works! Why is also used as an exchange for one’s purpose. “What is the “why” of your speech, what is it’s purpose?”  Why can be a bit invasive, so sometimes it needs to be softened. Be sure to use the right delivery, as it can make the receiving end become defensive.

Opening with WHY: “It would be great to know the “why” behind this event!“ and “Forgive me, I’m just wondering why you look sad today?”

Deepening with WHY: “Why do you say that?” and “Your “why” for this solution would be?”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

HOW –  How is great for showing interest.  Tone of voice is very important …. You must be authentically interested or “how” can come across “doubting” … Use it to reflect interest & wonder, not doubt.

Opening with HOW: “How was the event last night?” “How are you feeling?”

Deepening with HOW: “ How did you accomplish that?” “ How do we go about contributing more to this situation?”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

WHAT – Another great opening for both interest and curiosity! Tone of voice plays a role , for example, there are multiple ways to say, “What in the world?” Delivery is always important.

Opening with WHAT: “What brought you to this event?”

Deepening with WHAT: “What was it that inspired you?”  “What’s the objective here? “

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

WHEN – When can create a reply, but be careful. It can create a simple short answer. Be prepared to follow it up with a how, what, why, etc..

Opening with WHEN: “When did you arrive?” “When did the meeting start?” and/or “When the meeting began I was on the phone, can you tell me what I missed?”

Deepening with WHEN: “When was that?” and/or “When I arrived, I was doubtful of this event, what did you think of it?” “When I was young we couldn’t do things this way … your thoughts?”

WHO – Who is kind of an inquisitive opening and sometimes needs a follow-up.

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Opening with WHO: “Who are the creators of this event? Would you know their backgrounds?” “Who are the decision makers here? Anyone I might know?” or “Who are you?”

Deepening with WHO:  “Who would respond to the message delivered in that speech? What type of professionals? and/or “Who benefits the most from these services? “Who are we targeting?”

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Each one of these triggers have multiple ways they can be used based upon where you are, what the situation is, and all the surrounding elements. Remember to watch your tone and delivery. If using the 5 W’s in an email, explain your intended tone or recipients will apply their own tone to your words. Also always, always, always use them authentically. Wait for the answers and respond accordingly. One of the most abused phrase is “How are you?” Think how many times you’ve been asked that question without the person asking even waiting for your reply! Do not turn the 5 W’s into just figurative terms… use them authentically. Be authentic with all your communications.

Know, the next time you see an opportunity to open dialogue with a stranger, take on an uncomfortable situation at work or home,  want to just be more social and interactive with fellow workers or community members …. go to these easy to remember triggers of “who, what, how, when and why. One of them, for sure, will be useful in opening up a dialogue and/or adding value to continuing dialogue.

Be #communicationsstrong

Here’s to your communications success!

margie