Hello hello! 👋

A conversation between me and my best friend from secondary school had got me thinking about a few things and I want to share them with you today. As some of you might know, if you’ve had a mentoring session with me, something that I’ve always mentioned is that if there’s any soft skill to have, it’s selling. Whatever job that you’re in, if you can sell, you can succeed. However, what does it mean to sell?

Communication is NOT the Only Key

There are many forms of communication, and most people think that communicating is the only thing that matters. However, it is not the case. When we present thoughts and ideas without any structure to it, it reflects poorly on you.

“Your idea is only as good as your ability to articulate it.”

While this seems like a no-brainer, communicating across something isn’t the same as articulating. To ‘sell’ something to your leaders or stakeholders, you need to be able to express your thoughts with clarity while being as concise as possible. Organising your thoughts is one of the ways to really get what you want to say without fumbling through words or even worse, sound like you’re rambling.

As mentioned before in my previous newsletter, “Reflection in Action” helped me become more organised in my thoughts as I am purposefully thinking clearly and systematically about the different experiences I have gone through during my daily work.

At times, I also make the mistake of asking people “You know what I mean?”. It acts more as a self-assurance, than actually making sure that the person that you’re speaking to, understands you. While I’m not the best at this, I always seek to improve the way I communicate and articulate my thoughts. Sometimes I reframe perspectives for the other person, other times I break it down into this four-part framework:

• Current state - Overview of situation

• Challenges - Framing the problem; Cost of inaction (COI)

• Desired outcome - Return of investment (ROI)

• Proposal - The approach

I won’t go through the entire process in this framework that I use, but it is way easier to understand than using metaphors, especially in a professional setting. If you think you’d like me to cover how to use the framework from above, hit reply and let me know!

Discuss with Someone Who Doesn’t Understand

Some ways you can try to improve on this is to discuss with someone who doesn’t understand. Usually when you speak with someone from another business unit or department, they don’t have the relevant knowledge or expertise in what you are attempting to explain. If you can make them understand, then you might be already be great at articulating your ideas.

Even if you are bad at it, don’t worry. We all start somewhere. Keep practising and you’ll get better at it.

I hope this is helpful!

Reflect: This takes a lot of practice. When someone tells you they don’t understand what you’re saying, get their feedback and ask how might you have made yourself clearer. These are steps to help you think better, reframe and improve the way you are communicating today.

Mentor’s Notes

It’s been a while since I have recommended a book. As you know, the go-to recommendation that I have is ‘Atomic Habits’. Ever since I’ve read that book, I have been advocating for “habit-stacking” amongst many other things.

Today, another book I’d like to recommend is this ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ by Dale Carnegie and Dr. Arthur R. Pell. The rock-solid advice within the book has withstood the test of time. The book title might be a little off-putting, but this is a book that reiterates the basic tenants of leadership in a work environment. It helps you also understand how you communicate with people—beyond just words.

If you are looking to level-up at work, this is the book for you. As always, this isn’t an affiliate link or anything. You can choose to buy it from Amazon or at your local book store.

🎄⛄🎅🏼🦌❄🎁🎄⛄🎅🏼🦌❄🎁🎄⛄🎅🏼🦌❄🎁

This will be the last newsletter of 2023. I sincerely thank you for being on this journey with me, and I wish you a very Merry Christmas and an absolutely Happy 2024! See you in the new year!

P.S. Yes, as always, please share it with your friends if you think it’s useful