Do you Communicate or Connect?
John Maxwell’s book “Everyone Communicates Few Connect” is a must read and be reflected upon by anyone who uses social media and content marketing to communicate and connect with their leads and customers. Got this book last year and found it helpful.
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It made me reflect on a lot of the challenges I have. This includes:
The need to communicate and connect regularly.
With a growing number of new faces in the industry today, being relevant requires having a proactive mindset in connecting to people and giving something of value. Accepting the reality as well that there are some whom you won’t be able to connect to and some will outgrow you faster than you expect.
Can I inspire others?
Although awards and recognitions can boost a person’s credibility, but it can’t be denied that it can also be exaggerated. It is embarrassing when someone points out that a person’s claim of an award or recognition was not really genuine – it is only a certificate of recognition issued as it was requested. Or a prominent sounding award but it requires payment and/or presence, otherwise it would be forfeited.
Proof of work can also be seen through personal success story sharing. However, caution needs to be made as it would be misleading to claim credit for one’s person success – as you are just one piece of the puzzle. Hence, I feel, the best testimonial stories are naturally given or shared. Written on their sites or online presence rather than on yours.
I have my share of making audiences feel great at events where laughter can be easily sparked among other “follow-me” or “do-what-I-say” activities. However, as more speakers do the same, I still believe that the essence of what you have shared, if they are able to resonate, is what will make you relevant to that specific person.
Moreso, if the gist of your sharing is to help the person you are connecting to.
Building skills to connect one-on-one, group, and audience.
As John Maxwell summarized in every chapter of his book, connecting to people on a one-on-one, at a group, or a large audience requires different depth of skill sets. I guess this is the reason why some speakers are at their best when with a large audience while some do better at small groups or one-on-one. However, I feel that they are all necessary.
Most of my training programs are designed for one-on-one especially those done online. For face-to-face boot camp sessions, this happens in a group size environment. But if a participant doesn’t open up and share their concern, I may also miss out in serving their needs. For online , this is where getting an assistant who will track and help out became an absolute necessity.
The discipline to follow-through
I have a LOT of back log for the things I want to do and finish. This is the reason why I have less activities this year as I want to complete all of my back log. If I will get to do it again, getting help is something that I would not hesitate to invest early rather than later. Could have been more systematic in my process of keeping in touch with students and club members.
Do you communicate or connect?
Although most of us are communicating but only a few of our messages are connecting. There are many methods to go about this. Hope you can buzz me and share your thoughts on this article piece.