For important conversations, a smooth delivery matters. Jerky and discombobulated communication in strategic conversations diminishes your overall chances of success. To smooth out your delivery in important interactions, follow five conversational delivery tips.
Delivery Tip #1: Practice your delivery if the conversation matters.
Replicate the conditions of your future conversation as much as possible and rehearse for important conversations. If you can’t replicate the conditions exactly, don’t skip a rehearsal. For a smooth delivery, you must speak your words out loud, and not just say them in your head. The benefit of hearing your own words cannot be overstated—the ear, after all, is the final judge of smoothness. Almost everything sounds good in your head, but almost nothing comes out smoothly the first time. Get your first time out of the way in practice.
Delivery Tip #2: Don’t slap together your words.
An ill-conceived train of thought can cause your conversation partner to stumble. Take your time and determine what you want to say, and don’t have important conversations without thinking through your objectives. Don’t have important conversations on the fly.
Delivery Tip #3: Don’t trip over your own feet.
Strategic conversations have a goal. Most likely, you will make your case by offering evidence, examples, or other supporting information. Don’t smother good information with irrelevant blather. This is especially important in conversations where you are asking for something. In these conversations, the conversation funnels to an “ask” statement. After you have captured their attention, presented your evidence, and had the courage to request what you want, have the fortitude to allow for some silence. The other party will eventually start talking, but if you talk over your ask, it will probably dilute your message. Once you ask, you wait.
Delivery Tip #4: Don’t qualify your words to death.
Don’t dilute your messages with meaningless phrases like “that’s what I think,” “you know what I mean,” or “don’t you agree?” Impressions of you and your message are based partly on your perceived confidence, and qualifiers and meaningless phrases can raise uncomfortable doubts. When your delivery is shaky, people are quick to assume that your underlying facts are shaky as well.
Delivery Tip #5: Don’t allow early derailments.
If your initial delivery is smooth, and then, all of a sudden, you start to experience some resistance from the other person—perhaps questions you didn’t expect or a bit of pushback on your idea—don’t abandon your goals. Move through the initial turbulence and stay focused on your conversational goals and strategy. If the turbulence continues, you may need to change your conversational tactics or even reevaluate your overall strategy. But don’t quit too early. Push through initial resistance until you determine that what you are doing is clearly not working.