We definitely can feel the excitement building for the 2013 Congress and hope you can feel it too! If Congress is in your plans, make sure you attend one or two of these fast-paced Speed Sessions. Congress isn’t on your calendar yet? WHAT?! Why are you waiting?

We are in the people business, and as such our success in all areas of the parks and recreation field are dependent upon our ability to communicate clearly and effectively. 

Most of us love to talk; I know I do and always have. But one thing I have learned the hard way of course, is that communicating and really making your point has little to do with the words you use. In fact, using the right words in the wrong way often times makes things worse.

Ever had a disagreement with your significant other? Your boss? How about an employee? Most of us have. What do you think happened that caused you to end up getting upset? Think back, if you would, to one incident where your conversation did not go well. What happened?  Got the answer yet?  I bet I know!

So as you think about that, let me ask you, what do you think is the single most important action you must take to communicate more effectively?

Got the answer yet? You guessed it, “Connecting.”  Communicating is about connecting with another person at a much deeper level.

Remember the old cell phone commercial with the young guy walking around the country constantly asking the person at the other end of the phone... “Can you hear me now?”

You know when you cannot communicate with someone on a mobile phone, technology makes it very easy for you to figure out why.  You either can hear that person or you cannot. It is very simple. But yet we can sit with an employee in our office for an hour conversing, and then they leave with a 180 degree different impression from yours of what the meeting was all about. 

Does this scenario sound all too familiar? 

How then do we get better?  If you want to get better, connecting is the key. In fact, the Harvard Business Review states that, “The number one criteria for advancement and promotions for professionals is an ability to communicate effectively.”

“Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.” If you want to influence other people, you must communicate with them at a level that really moves them and speaks to their heart. The good news is, developing your communication skills is an easily learned behavior if you know the way.

Please join me at my 2013 NRPA speed session where we will have an awesome discussion about communicating more effectively. My speed session will be filled with personal stories of my own struggles to communicate effectively, fascinating facts of what makes communication such a challenge, followed up with easy to implement and useful tips that you can put into practice the minute you walk out the door of my session.  Come join me for a fast paced, funny, and interesting look into how we communicate and more importantly learn how and why we must improve this skill set. 

Share your thoughts about effective communicating and answers to David’s questions in the comments below.  

 About David

David Carter is the President and CEO of Carter Consulting Group.