Does Your Business Have A "Talk Smart" Plan?

GLEN COVE, N.Y. - July 12, 2016 - PRLog -- Today, you can text, talk, email, phone, video chat, or choose another business communication option.

Yet ineffective communication is hurting business productivity, increasing misunderstanding, and negatively impacting overall business efficiency.

Money lost and time wasted by businesses, as a result of inadequate communication is a troubling concern, especially as business people move away from speaking to one another and rely more heavily on cryptic emails and texts.

With indications suggesting that an increasing number of businesspeople prefer to text than talk in many situations, it's easy to see why there is so much potential for miscommunication that negatively impacts business performance.

In his new book, Talk Smart, Bob Lipp a former college-level communications teacher and marketing agency exec, offers informative and entertaining tips to help make people more effective speakers in their business and personal life.

But, as he has learned, the problem is systemic, and suggests the need for more and more businesses to assess how they communicate within their company as well as to customers before, during and after a sale.

"Using email to provide an agenda before a meeting or a summary after is a great idea," states Lipp. "But using it in place of talking to one another can simply cause frustration and confusion, especially when one tries to make sense of words written with no inflection or emphasis."

Lipp hopes that more businesses consider putting in place a "Talk Smart Plan," much as they would develop other procedures to support critical functions in their operation.

Having a Talk Smart Plan – or steps that can be taken to interact with colleagues and customers in a way that fosters a culture of transparency, greater understanding and relation-building can help any business to better achieve critical goals.

"Some businesspeople I have spoken to cannot define effective communication," stated Lipp, "They often confuse it with simply speaking or listening to someone, or using a digital alternative to deliver the message.

That suggests an even greater problem.

"Communication is two or more people coming from the same starting point and trying to resolve something, states Lipp. "Anything else is a form of argument, manipulation, words that confuse rather than inform, or simply an attempt to further a one-sided agenda.

Understanding how to communicate effectively and having usage guidelines for the many ways in which we communicate in the digital age, increases overall business performance.

Also, knowing when and how to speak and what to say is essential, since it reinforces the idea that clear communication is a powerful tool, and that it starts with the individual.

Creating a Talk Smart Plan can be accomplished by simply sitting employees in a circle and asking them to reveal the concerns they have about communication, including when to speak to, email or text colleagues and customers, while the moderator moves the conversation toward consensus.

Or it can be done prior to the meeting using email to gather input.

Having a Talk Smart Plan can address a variety of essential business communication concerns including:

1. How to be on the same page with your customer or colleague.

2. How best to organize your thoughts and connect with others.

3. When to use written agendas prior to a meeting and summaries thereafter.

4. When to avoid using email in favor of face-to-face communication.

5. How to be a more effective negotiator and understand the art of compromise.

"Simply saying 'I misunderstood,' has become a universal excuse for why things don't get done properly or require far more time to accomplish the task, and that's not good for business," add Lipp.

For more information on putting together Talk Smart Plan, please contact Bob@CommunicationMasters.net or call 1.800.616.7679

To buy TALK SMART, please visit http://www.amazon.com/dp/1530453143