Are you sick as a parrot? 4 ways to sharpen your language skills and become a more effective leader

4 ways to sharpen your language skills

1. Read more and read aloud

   Reading expands your vocabulary. When you read something aloud, you engage more fully with the language. Pick an author whose work you love and walk around your office, reading their work out loud as if it were your own thoughts. After half an hour or so, try writing something. It doesn’t have to be anything specific: automatic writing is ideal. Then review your writing and see if new words and syntactical structures are available to you.

2. Switch the ‘I’ versus ‘you’ ratio

   If you use “I” excessively, your interlocutor is likely to switch off and disengage cognitively, emotionally, and psychologically. Switch the “I” and “you” ratio round, and lead with “you”: “Here’s what you need, what you expect and want, and what your challenges look like.” Make the exchange about the other person. Using “you” shows them that you care about their concerns and needs.

3. Be prepared

   Warm up before communicating with others and find ways to access a state of mind where you feel resourceful and primed to choose words, open doors, and express emotions that encourage, empower, and inspire (think about actors, musicians, athletes, or dancers and the warm-up exercises they do that decide how they perform). Prepare in advance so, instead of frustration, boredom, anger, or fear, you show up with a sense of purpose and intellectual generosity; a gift you have prepared that you want to share with others.

4. Reach for a better language

   Unfortunately, the language of violence pervades management communications: “destroy the competition,” “bring out the big guns,” “eat what you kill,” etc. These micro-aggressions subtly condition the way we connect. Avoid them by being deliberately conscious of the words you choose and use language that encourages thinking, creativity, problem-solving, and innovation.