Communication in healthcare settings is challenging because we’re often not feeling well, because the stakes are high, because we often feel anxious, and because the discussion is frequently filled with jargon and complexity. Six tips will help improve your conversations about your health.
High-Stakes Listening: I Can Hear You Now
Unfortunately, important conversations are often loaded with misconceptions as we scramble to understand what’s happening. Five tips will help you increase your comprehension when the stakes are high.
Special Delivery
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.