How to Communicate with Diplomacy, Tact and Credibility

The quality and effectiveness of your communication skills can determine success or failure in your professional career and organizational standing. Communication directly influences how others perceive your work quality and overall performance, and it fundamentally impacts your prospects for career advancement, professional mobility, and long-term success. Unfortunately, developing the ability to be diplomatic, tactful, and credible in communication does not always come naturally to people, even to those with natural communication abilities. Even when such diplomatic and tactical communication comes naturally, these skills can easily be derailed and compromised by strong emotions and workplace conflicts. To develop the capability to be a truly skilled communicator in all three essential areas: diplomacy, tact, and credibility, it requires sustained awareness, comprehensive training, and the practical know-how to apply proven communication techniques to all kinds of diverse situations.

This comprehensive seminar teaches you how to choose and use the most appropriate words and emotional tone for every business interaction and professional scenario. You will gain valuable insights into your own communication style and patterns, develop an understanding of how others communicate, and build practical skills to clearly and effectively receive and transmit vital information, important ideas, significant thoughts, emotional content, and important personal and professional needs.

Who Should Attend This Seminar:

Business professionals who want the practical skills to communicate in a positive, professional manner, regardless of what the situation may be.

How You Will Benefit from Participation:

• Apply diplomacy and tact in all your communications to establish yourself as a credible and highly effective communicator
• Manage and optimize the impact your communications have on your professional image and reputation
• Define your unique communication style and learn how to leverage it effectively
• Develop and demonstrate significantly improved listening skills in all professional contexts
• Understand the critical importance of perception and how it shapes others' views of you
• Explore communication style differences among colleagues and supervisors; learn to adjust and flex your own style for better outcomes
• Recognize the direct and significant impact of stress on your communication effectiveness and learn to adjust strategically
• Discover what makes communication effective and truly powerful; develop the practical skills to consistently model it

Comprehensive Overview of Course Content

The Importance and Impact of Perception

• Develop an understanding of how perception and professional image can significantly impact the way others perceive you and evaluate your performance
• Learn to recognize how diplomacy, tact, and credibility are demonstrated through the practice of excellent communication

Communication Style Differences and Adaptability

• Understand how your communication style significantly impacts the professional image that others form of you
• Develop the ability to flex and adjust your communication style to communicate with greater diplomacy, tact, and credibility in diverse situations
• Complete the Insight Inventory assessment tool to develop a deeper self-understanding of how your communication style affects your overall effectiveness
• Practice adjusting your style across different demographics, generational backgrounds, and organizational positions
• Develop awareness of how stress and pressure impact how you naturally express your communication style traits

Effective and Powerful Communication Principles

• Learn to identify and successfully remove the specific roadblocks that interfere with effective communication in organizations
• Master how to positively influence the visual components (body language and appearance), verbal components (word choice), and vocal components (tone and delivery) of your communication
• Understand and apply the Know-Feel-Do Model of communicating for maximum impact and influence
• Learn and implement practical strategies for powerful communications; practice them in realistic scenarios
• Develop understanding of nonverbal communication and recognize its critical importance as a fundamental part of the overall communication process

Developing Effective Listening Skills

• Learn how to apply good listening skills in order to communicate with greater diplomacy, tact and credibility in all situations
• Identify the specific barriers and obstacles that impede effective listening in professional settings
• Discover how using good listening skills can help you build and improve your professional image and your overall ability to communicate effectively
• Understand the true organizational costs of ineffective listening and how it impacts your performance and career prospects

Mastering Diplomacy, Tact, and Credibility

• Learn to define the five fundamental actions that establish and demonstrate credible communication
• Apply diplomacy, tact, and credibility skills in all your communications to become a more effective and persuasive communicator
• Identify the personal "hot buttons" and triggers that cause people to lose their diplomacy and tact, thereby damaging their credibility
• Develop self-awareness of your own "hot buttons," and prepare strategically and proactively for situations where you may face these triggers

Complete Course Outline and Structure

Primary Learning Objectives

• Apply Diplomacy and Tact in All Communication to Be a Credible and Highly Effective Communicator
• Define Your Unique Communication Style and Learn to Leverage It Effectively
• Utilize and Practice Effective Communication Skills in Diverse Scenarios
• Demonstrate and Master Good Listening Skills in Professional Contexts

Communication: Understanding Perception and Its Importance

• Define Diplomacy, Tact and Credibility as They Apply Directly to Professional Communication
• Discuss How Perception and Professional Image Can Impact Others' Assessment of Your Performance and Value
• Explain the PIE Model and Its Relevance to Your Communication Success

Applying Diplomacy in All Situations

• Learn How to Positively Impact the Visual, Verbal, and Vocal Components of Your Professional Communication
• Apply Good Listening Skills to Build and Improve Your Professional Image and Develop Your Ability to Communicate with Diplomacy, Tact and Credibility
• Identify the Key Barriers and Obstacles That Impede Effective Listening in Professional Contexts

Communicating with Greater Tact and Professionalism

• Explain How Your Communication Style Impacts the Professional Image That Others Have of You
• Evaluate the Opportunities and Challenges Related to Your Particular Communication Style When Working with Others
• Flex Your Communication Style to Communicate with Greater Diplomacy, Tact, and Credibility in Diverse Situations

Building and Demonstrating Credibility in Communications

• Define the Five Actions That Make Communication Credible and Trustworthy
• Identify and Successfully Remove the Roadblocks and Barriers to Effective Communication
• Apply the Know-Believe-Feel-Do Model of Communicating for Greater Impact and Influence

Putting It All Together for Practical Application

• Overcome the Barriers and Obstacles That Hinder Effective Communication
• Apply and Practice Communication Skills of Diplomacy, Tact, and Credibility in Real-World Scenarios