When it comes to good communication, we all know it's an essential skill for
establishing and maintaining positive relationships. On top of
that, in the workplace, good communication leads to better
outcomes, including stronger teams, better collaboration and overall clarity. But what exactly is good communication? The reality is what defines good
communication can change from one language and one culture to another. So if you're struggling to make
positive first impressions, build rapport or maintain open
communication channels in English at work, this lesson is going to
help. If you don't already know, I'm Annemarie with
Speak Confident English, everything I do here is designed to
help you get the confidence you want for your life and work in English. Now, if
you've been following me for a while, you know that a few months ago, I did a lesson titled
demonstrating charisma at work. If you enjoyed learning about the power
of charisma and how to demonstrate it in English, then this lesson
is a great follow-up. Throughout this lesson today, you'll gain insight on how to
improve your communication skills at work so that you are using
positive communication with your team, coworkers and clients. [Inaudible]. To help us navigate through
this lesson successfully, I'm going to share with you four specific,
positive communication techniques. With each one, I'll also introduce
strategies to help you be successful. As you watch, I recommend that you take note of
the techniques and strategies that feel most comfortable to you or
align with your communication style. As you know, we all communicate differently and there
may be techniques that feel like they fit you best. And if that's the
case, make sure to take note of them. As always, I'll also include
example phrases, sentence starters, and more so that you have all the language
you need to implement these positive communication techniques. Technique
number one is use positive language. It seems obvious that in a
lesson on positive communication, we want to make sure we know that
we're selecting positive words or vocabulary. When we communicate making
positive word choices is a surefire way to show respect
and immediately get off on the right foot in a conversation. And here are three strategies you can
use to help you implement this technique. Strategy number one, select polite words. Selecting polite words allows
us to always show respect and maintain a positive tone. Listen to these two example
sentences. Number one, stop talking. I need a moment to think. And number two, could you hold your thoughts for a
moment? I just need a moment to think. Of those two examples sentences, did one of them sound more
polite and respectful to you? Most likely it was sentence
number two, but why? First I used modals, for example, could, could you wait for a moment?
And I'd, I'd like. And second, I made it a request as
opposed to a demand. The second strategy you can use
for selecting positive language is particularly useful when giving feedback, rather than using negative words, we can use the negative
form of positive words. I know that sounds complicated.
So let me give you an example. Let's imagine that one of your
coworkers has proposed a new service or product that just doesn't fit
with your company's mission or vision rather than say, that's not what I'm
looking for, or that's not the right fit. You could use something like that's
not as innovative as the products we're hoping to compete against.
Did you notice the difference? Let me say those again. The first option is that's not a
good fit or that's not what I want. Number two, that's not as innovative as the products
we're hoping to compete against. Here's another alternative. I understand you worked hard to
come up with an innovative solution, but it wasn't along the
lines of our company mission. In those two alternative sentences, I'm using some rather complex
structures that allow me to use negative forms of positive
words. For example, in that first alternative, I'm
using the positive word innovative, but in a slightly
negative form using that, not as innovative as...
In the second example, I'm using positive language
such as I understand, and then going on to say, but it wasn't
along the lines of our company mission. Those little adjustments
in our speech, again, help us make positive language choices. And now the third strategy we can
use for this technique is minimize negative connotations through qualifiers. Qualifiers are words like slightly, a bit, not quite a little kind of, and these qualifiers soften
a negative tone. So again, if we're providing critical feedback, we can certainly minimize
the negativity by utilizing those qualifiers.
Here's a good example, rather than say, it's taking too
long to complete this report. You could add a qualifier to minimize
the negative connotation and say, it's taking a bit longer than I
expected for this report to be finished. And now technique number two for
positive communication at work is to be sincere and show interest. Everyone loves to be listened to, and everyone loves to feel interesting. By showing genuine
interest in someone else, you're giving them that gift
and working to establish or maintain an overall positive relationship. Beyond using body language and active
listening skills to show that you're paying attention or that you have
sincere interest in someone else, you can also use open-ended
questions. Doing so, not only allows you to learn
more about a person's experience, but it also allows you to potentially
find connections that you can build stronger relationships upon. Some great examples of question starters
you can use for an open-ended question include, tell me more about, tell me more about how you got
started in this profession, or what is your experience with, what is your experience
with this software? What is your experience with
tackling these challenges at work? What is your experience in leadership? And a third similar question
starter is how was your experience? How has your experience at the conference? How was your experience
giving the presentation? These simple questions are
extremely effective in showing your sincere interest in others, helping you make positive first
impressions and maintaining strong relationships. And now the third technique for positive
communication at work is use I and validate you. If you've watched some of my previous
lessons on professional communication in English, then you know how powerful I statements
can be when sharing our opinions or giving feedback, particularly when we're sharing opinions
that are in opposition to others or in giving critical feedback. On top of that using I-statements
is a great way to take the spotlight off of another
person and put it on yourself, which is important when we
need to set clear boundaries or again, provide critical feedback. Here are two strategies
to embrace that technique. Strategy one use I statements
when giving feedback to avoid placing blame or
increasing the tension. We all know that giving feedback and
receiving feedback is already difficult. So here are some effective sentence
starters to help you do that. I've noticed that you're great at, and I'd like to help you improve
in... In that example sentence, I'm validating the other person by
letting them know some areas where I see a lot of strength and I'm using that as
an opportunity to introduce areas for improvement as well. Here's another
way to do that. I'm impressed with, however, I think we need to work on... A second way to embrace this
technique is use similar sentence patterns when you need to
set clear boundaries at work. For example, my expectations
are, and I think... Again, we're using those I-statements to
reduce tension and avoid placing blame. Another example, thank you for however, I don't feel comfortable with... Let me share an example
of how we might use that. Imagine one of your coworkers has recently
taken over one of your projects and that was not something you wanted
to have happen rather than simply feel angry and say nothing about it. You can use this strategy to effectively
express your frustration and set some boundaries. And you can do that with
the sentence structure I just shared. Thank you for taking charge of
contacting our clients. However, I don't feel comfortable doing
minimal work and going forward. I'd like us to maintain an equal workload. Do you notice there I'm
not placing any blame. I'm validating something
the other person has done, but I'm also setting clear boundaries
by stating what my expectations are and using those I statements. And now our fourth and final technique
for positive communication at work and on teams is to recognize and show support. Recognizing others, whether it's because they've finished
a challenging task or accomplished something and showing support when
it's needed are effective ways of showing appreciation. And that leads to lasting strong
relationships in the workplace, showing recognition and support also
help others to feel valued and heard. So here are two ways you can do
that with sincerity strategy. Number one, compliment others
when it's appropriate. Now, when I say when it's appropriate, what I mean is when someone
has done something significant or perhaps they've finished a
particularly challenging task. Maybe it's been a tough
week for everyone at work, but you want your team to know that
you have valued their time and input. Here are four great sentence starters
to help you give compliments at work. Number one, I appreciate, I appreciate the extra time you've
given this week. A second option. I'm proud of you, or I'm proud of your... I'm proud of your team's efforts
in successfully getting that contract finished. A third option. You did a fantastic job with you, did a fantastic job with that
presentation. And one more, you truly excelled in... You truly excelled in
over-delivering to our clients. A second strategy you can use to
implement this technique with sincerity is to support others. Whether it's
supporting their ideas, their opinions, or providing hands-on support when
they're struggling to meet a deadline or get something finished. When
you show support to others, not only is it a form of
recognition in English, but it's also a way of introducing a
culture of open communication at work. If you're struggling with how
to put your words together, to effectively show support or
empathize with others at work, here are a few options. I
understand this will be difficult, or I understand that this is
new. However, I'm here for you, if you need any help. Although
this task has some challenges, I know you have the skills necessary
to complete it. And finally, I know the initial
approach wasn't successful. Might I suggest and then
offer your suggestion. Here's a common situation where this
strategy might be particularly useful. Imagine that someone new
has just joined your team. And they're feeling a bit of anxiety
about a particular task that is challenging for everyone to show that
you are supporting your new team member and showing empathy. You could say, I understand that this
is all very new. However, if you need any advice, I'm
here to help. And with that, you have four techniques that you can
immediately begin implementing for positive communication in English, at work and on your team to finish up. I have a couple of questions for
you at the start of this lesson. I recommended that you take note
of the techniques and strategies that align with your communication style. So I would love to know which one
seemed most compelling to you. What strategy are you most excited
about implementing in your English communication? And my second question, did you have a moment of insight or
an aha moment while listening to this lesson again at the start
I talked about how positive communication differs from one
language and culture to another, perhaps there's something
you experienced in the past. That just didn't make sense,
but now suddenly it does, you can share your thoughts, questions, and comments with me in
the comment section below. If you found this lesson useful
to you, I would love to know. And you can tell me in
one very simple way, give this lesson a thumbs up here
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Confident English lessons. Thank you so much for joining me. And
I look forward to seeing you next time.
