Some might argue that the most important subject in an MBA program is
business communication. After all, no matter how knowledgeable you are about
finance, accounting, marketing, information systems or any other aspect of business, you must be able to communicate
that knowledge to be successful.
“Year in and year out, we see communication skills at the top of recruiter’s
lists of desirable traits in candidates,”
says John Krajicek, coordinator of business communications studies at Mays
Business School. “Simply put, the better
you communicate, the more successful
you will be in business.”
Smart Business talked with Krajicek
for more insight on how to increase your
proficiency in business communication.
What exactly are we talking about when we
say ‘business communication’?
In a broad sense, we mean a business
world communication situation, in
which there is a sender, a message and a
receiver. With this general definition
we’re talking about anything that potentially communicates, including such
things as facial expressions, font types,
logos and clothing styles. But a more
limited and much more useful definition
would be ‘writing or talking in a business
setting.’
What specific tips do you have for more
successful communication?
In general, keep in mind that effective
communication never happens in a vacuum. It is always and everywhere connected to a specific audience, message and
situation. These three factors dictate
tone, length, style and format. Always
think through what would best serve this
particular audience in this particular context for this particular message.
To get more specific, let’s think in
terms of writing first and oral communication second.
The business world wants writing that
is active, natural and concise. By active I
mean verb-dominated, rather than noun-dominated passive prose. In other
words, rather than write ‘the decision
has been reached,’ write ‘we have decided.’ By natural I mean write in a voice
that is not stilted or overly formal. Write
in a style that captures the natural
rhythms of speech. In other words,
rather than write ‘in general, it can be
said that things have a tendency to happen,’ write ‘things happen.’ And by concise I mean get to the point — no long
windups, no beating around the bush.
Write what you mean, and get to it quickly and clearly.
Try to write like Buffett (Warren, not
Jimmy). He is an excellent model of
effective, fresh, engaging, natural business writing.
How about tips for public speaking?
The same advice works here as well,
with the addition of three more points.
One, make sure your audience feels as
if you are talking to them, rather than
regurgitating a memorized speech.
Engage them. Capture the feel of a conversation.
Two, be absolutely certain that when
you finish your presentation your audience is not thinking, ‘What was he talking about?’ Make sure your audience can
summarize in 20 words or less the substance of what you just said.
And three, grant yourself permission to
be nervous. We’ve all heard that a significant number of people fear public
speaking more than they fear cancer.
Being comfortable on stage isn’t easy.
Too often when speakers are nervous,
they get nervous about the fact that they
are nervous … and then they get nervous
about that. Soon you have a hall of nervous mirrors. Don’t try to deny that you
are nervous — just tell yourself, ‘Yes, I’m
a little nervous — and that’s okay.’ And a
wonderful and ironic thing can happen if
you just acknowledge it and give yourself a break — you end up being less
nervous.
Any final advice?
To move back to a more general definition of business communication, one
thing that I challenge my students to
think about is presence.
Take the concept of stage presence and
expand it. Drop the stage, and just think
about presence. Think hard about how
you carry yourself, how you interact
with people, how you move through the
world. When you stop at your usual coffee shop in the morning, how do the
employees and patrons see you? How do
you interact with people on the elevator
in your office building? At the airport?
With hotel staff when you’re traveling? If
you think in these terms and become
very attentive to your presence in the
world — what kind of image you project,
how you are communicating with those
around you in every public moment of
your life — then your more formal communication practices will automatically
become much better. And so will your
business.
JOHN KRAJICEK is coordinator of business communications
studies and lecturer for the MBA and EMBA programs for Texas
A&M University’s Mays Business School in College Station
and Houston. Reach him at (979) 458-4323 or
[email protected].
