For most people nowadays, the most important thing you
make at work is decisions. You are paid for your ability to think, make good choices and implement plans by communicating with others. Research shows that we spend
70-80% of our waking lives communicating. Nearly half of that time, about 45%, is spent listening. Surprisingly, only 9% of our communication time is spent writing, while 16% is spent reading other people's communication, and 30% of the time we are speaking.
Many of us spend a considerable amount of time in meetings. And what are the dollars and cents costs of a meeting? Let's do the math. Say there are six people per meeting who make an average $80K per year. That is $40 per hour - say about $50/hr. with benefits. If the meeting lasts about 90 minutes, that is $450 in salaries per meeting. If a meeting like that happens once each workday, with an average 20 workdays a month, plus donuts and running a little long, that is an easy $10K per month. Using the salary/hr. calculation, a friend calculated that the "cost" of writing his organization's mission statement came to more than $100,000!
Cost alone is not the only reason to be clear and efficient with communications. Holding the listener's attention is a more serious challenge than ever before. And yet, you may not have had any speech courses since high school (if ever), and it is likely that no one taught you effective business presentations.
Pity. That is a serious shortcoming in career education.
Take presentations, for instance. While these skills come naturally to a lucky few, the vast majority of us need to learn how to deliver effective presentations,
even if the audience consists of one person. Fortunately, these are skills easily learned by anyone who wants to do so. Furthermore, research into the field expands our knowledge each year, so that we are better able to help our clients become the superb communicators they want to be. Here is a brief look at some of the latest studies.
After listening to a 10-minute oral presentation, the average listener has heard, understood, accurately evaluated and retained only about half of what was said. Additionally, Dr. Lyman K. Steil of the University of Minnesota says that within 48 hours, that 50% drops another half to a 25% effectiveness level. By the end of a week, that level goes down to about 10% or less. The audience may just as well have slept through 90% of it.
Sighing, groaning and eye rolling are all normative responses to meetings, and who can blame people?
Recent data show that professionals now spend nearly three hours per day in business meetings, and more than a third of those polled say meetings are unproductive. Many employees are so fed up they're simply not attending. More than 90% of workers fess up to having missed all or part of a meeting. And if you wonder whether your peers are somewhat inattentive while in meetings, here is the scoop - 73% say they have done other work when they're supposed to be paying attention. Some other meeting modalities include daydreaming (9 out of 10 employees have daydreamed during a meeting) and snoozing (41% of men have dozed, as have 31% of women). Only 6% of execs go to the trouble to pretend, that is, take notes or doodle to make it look as if they're listening.
In some places, having your laptop open while someone is talking has become perfectly acceptable, even expected. And what about the Blackberries? Who among us hasn't seen (or been) audience members with hands below the table casting furtive downward glances? What could be more counterproductive to a meeting, or more discouraging to the speaker, than to have massive messaging going on? It's no wonder only 10% of what is said can be recalled a week later.
Understanding the best techniques for getting your message across effectively, so that it is understood and remembered, is more important than ever before. If you haven't been trained in how to strategically prepare and deliver a message, get training. If you've been through our presentations course, locate your handout and review it. Ask a trusted colleague for a painfully honest critique. Check our past newsletters for tips and consider our advanced course. Communicating is often both the most critical and most taken for granted part of a career. You owe it to yourself and those who rely on you to be sure it is done well.
