Part One
Dear PR Matters,
I work in the communications department of a medium-sized company, and was recently advised by my manager that they were happy with my work and considering me for a higher position.
I was also told that enhancing my skills would give me greater opportunities in the company. What skills should I learn or improve on to grow in the workplace?
I am very excited and happy about this, and would greatly appreciate your advice on this.
Sincerely,
Cherry S.
Dear Cherry,
First of all, my colleagues and I congratulate you for this development in your career. We are happy that your company has been happy with your work, and would like to help you advance in your profession. That is very promising.
We also agree that our professional and personal lives are a work in progress, and it is always good to learn new things and develop our skills. In an article in Inc.com, Peter Economy highlights 5 Highly Desired Skills You Should Learn for a Changed (and Much Better) Life.
“Incredible opportunity still awaits,” Economy says. “all you need is to pick up a few life skills and you will see your chances of being successful increase in all areas of your life.”
“Whether you’re an entry-level employee or CEO, there is a wide variety of like skills available for you to learn and eventually master,” he adds, listing “highly desired skills for the keys to a more enriched personal and professional life.”
- Public speaking
- Writing
- Cloud computing
- Creativity
- Ability to learn
We will discuss more about Public speaking and Writing below, and the rest in next week’s column.
Public speaking
Economy believes that “with each day comes a new chance to speak up and speak out.” With that, “public speaking is one of the most critical skills you can develop, because not only it will help you communicate your ideas to your colleagues in a clear and effective manner, but it can help you to persuade, sell, and boost your confidence.”
In an article, To Lead Well, Speak Well, in Monster.com, Matt Krumie quotes Barbara Wulf, a professional and professional coach who says that, “choosing the right words that reflect who you are is important so you will not sound canned or disingenuous.”
Likewise, “the tone, inflection, and pace of your spoken message can have a lasting impact. Your spoken word has immediate impact on the listener unlike a written message that can be reread for clarity or interpretation.”
But how do we develop good speaking skills? In the same article, Melanie Keveles, a professional coach and president of Aligned Advantage Business and Personal Coaching shares some tips:
- Establish good eye contact with everyone;
- Look for friendly eyes, and make contact with those people;
- Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself for emphasis;
- Tell stories to get your point across. Examples will be remembered; and
- Practice your presentation in front of a mirror, or video or audiotape yourself to see what needs changing.
Writing
“How familiar are you with writing in different styles when the time calls for it? Can you right a professional report or can you write a polite but, firm letter?
Economy gives us pause to think with these questions, adding that strong writing skills will not only give us mastery of spelling and grammar, but make us “an expert at organizing and communicating your thoughts coherently and concisely.
Tomas Laurinavicius agrees with him, highlighting the Reasons Why Writing Remains a Critical Skill for Success in an article in Huffpost.
“Writing helps us think better, and perhaps even smarter,” he says. “Similar to dreams, writing allows us a way to collect our otherwise scattered thoughts and ideas, and channel them into a single beam of information. It opens a new dimension for the mind to move into, and consequently, creates a space for unparalleled expression and imagination.”
He also shares with us some tips on how we can develop our writing skills:
Look over a piece of writing before publishing and/or sending, and if the body seems uneven or otherwise imbalanced, it’s a good idea to give it a once over at the very least to check for redundancies, run-ons and rambles.
Be able to express yourself in both an easy to understand and interesting way.
Write for the reader. That’s the “golden rule” of effective writing. When writing, it’s often the first instinct to go for the flowery prose and drawn-out metaphor, but you’re better off keeping things simple. Opt for getting to the point rather than going on tangent—readers will forever be grateful.
Strong writing skills are the first steps toward establishing credibility in either an authoritative or instructional setting. And we certainly lose credibility with poor grammar and spelling. Make sure you’re using the right words and your sentences make sense.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Millie Dizon, the senior vice president for Marketing and Communications of SM, is the former local chairman.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.
Image credits: WWW.FREEPIK.COM