Claudia Raab's Blog

We all know these moments of uncomfortable silence. And yes, we don't like them. Some of us even feel the urge to break the silence, start a new topic to talk about or just comment on the silence and voila - it's gone. What a relief!

However, there are moments of comfortable silence, too. Yes, comfortable silence. Moments of silence that give you time to adjust to a new situation for example. Or moments of silence that allow time for you to contemplate or even just take a breath. We live in a fast-paced word, we need time to slow down, to catch up. In our daily routine as well as in a presentation we either give or listen to.

Pause! Take your time when presenting! Give your audience time! And give yourself time! Allow yourself to take a deep breath when presenting. It will not only calm down your nervousness. It will also give your audience a chance to think about what you've just said. The result: Your audience will remember your presentation much better after you've finished. Isn't that exactly what you want?

Don't rush! Remember: Great presenters plan for pauses. The faster you talk the more your audience will perceive you as nervous. Someone who appears nervous is perceived as unsure of himself and the topic he or she talks about. You want to be professional. Professionals are calm. They are confident and competent. Keep in mind: The speed of your presentation reflects your level of professionalism.

Pause during your presentation and you'll impress your audience even more. A pause might seem lasting like hours to you. Your audience will perceive it as just a fraction of a second, however, a very important one.

Pauses make all the difference! Make the most of them!

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Even if you have an aversion to networking – as many people do – it’s imperative to form connections with other people in particular if you want to increase the number of your clients or customers, if you had just start a new job or had a promotion.

Research shows that the first 30 to  60 days after a promotion for example, ist the time when people in a new department or even new company make their judgement about you: Can I trust him? Can I work well with her? Will I share insights and informatioin with him or her – or is he or she just a loser who should never have been been hired.

Sit down and make a list of people who should be in your network. It shouldn’t be just the people who eat lunch at the same time and in the same place you do. Look for adivisors, people who can help or who know exactly what is going on. Someone who knows short cuts, who is a very important link in the information chain of your company.

It's just a matter of introducing yourself. Usually people are quite receptive when you tell them you're new and try to get to know people you work with.It takes a bit of courage - and sometimes a bit of coaching - but it is definitely worth it!

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Would you like us to reveal a secret? Here we go: It's a myth that having excellent communication skills only implies being able to speak brilliantly in public. Having excellent listening skills is equally important.

Here are some tips to devolop better and effective listening skills:

1. Ask questions and repeat what has just been told to you. If someone tells you a story or provides you with important information repeat what they have said to be absolutely sure you understood their message correctly and also because if you repeat it you can remember it more easily.
2. Take notes! Write down what you have been told - preferably shortly after your conversation! You'll be amazed how much you'll forget without having it written in black and white. You'll also impress others with your knowledge who will not remember as much as you in a couple of days or weeks or months to come.
3. During your conversation maintain eye contact. I always tell my coachees "Eyes are the windows to the soul". Finding the "soul" of the person you are talking to will make it easy for you to connect and establish rapport with that person and vice versa.  Maintaining eye contact will convince them you are really interested in what they say and will help you keeping focused on the person who talks to you which is utterly important for an excellent outcome.
4. Lean slightly forward when you are seated. This will also signal you are interested and helps you concentrate on your conversation partner at the same time.
5. Eliminate distraction. Dedicate your time and yourself to the person who is talking and show authentic interest in it. Turn your mobile phone off. Multi tasking is no no when it comes to a listening. I'm convinced you are great at multi tasking but it's simply not on the agenda when you should be listening to another person that is face-to-face with you.
6. Practise your listening skills. Start focusing on improving you listening skills today in any conversation you may have: With your colleague, the post man, your daughter, etc. Every conversation counts and will prepare you for important conversations. 

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