One of the most underrated and overlooked considerations in communication is who is your audience? And I don’t mean who are you speaking with but who else is listening in. That last part is very important.
There is so much discussion these days about should I text or email or call or go in person or whatever. They are all have pros and cons. Knowing which to use when is important.
As business leaders, we have to be conscious of what we say and how we say it. And because of needing to be aware of who is listening, we also have to be conscious of how we listen and respond. One consideration for people communicating is to choose an appropriate response based on the venue and audience. Yes, I love and respect open dialogue but to get that you have to have a sense of your setting. If someone asks a question that they don’t already know the answer to in front of an audience that has divergent groups in it and you know the answer is not what they “want,” your choices are to give the right answer and risk some negative energy, to give the wrong answer or to give no answer. I have done all three and have had good and bad results with each.
How many times have you heard “Oh my, they blew me off in the post-presentation question and answer session. How awful.” Well, maybe, but maybe a different course of action could be to test the question ahead of time so that you have a greater sense of direction. I never put my board of directors in a place of not knowing what I am going to do before I do it in public. That is a learned trait and an essential one in business.
I am absolutely not saying shut down dialogue. I am saying on some issues, and knowing which ones is a skill, test your ideas ahead of time. And, test them with the biggest resistors.
As an aside, notice that I didn’t even consider listing something involving the postal service in paragraph two, which is why that business model needs to change.
Thanks for reading.
