The 7 Steps to Effective Communication Developed by

The 7 Steps to Effective Communication Developed by Nathan L. Vanderford, Ph. D, MBA. University of Kentucky 2013

The 7 Steps to Effective Communication

Step 1: Define/Refine The Topic • Resist making your topic too broad. – Focus your content on the minimum information required for your audience to understand the topic. • Constantly work to refine your information down to the minimum needed. Repeat this step over and over.

Step 2: Prepare • Become an “expert” in your topic area. • Preparation will allow you to: – Better hone the content that you need to deliver to your audience. – Be more comfortable/relaxed during your presentation. • As the “expert” in the room, you should not be intimidated by your audience.

Step 3: Develop Structure • Think of your topic like it’s a story. – Good stories have a beginning (introduction), middle (primary “new” content), and end (conclusion). • Good storytellers always capture the attention of their audience. – Your audience will retain more information if you convey a great, engaging story.

Step 4: Be Concise • Use simple, standard language. • Avoid: – Overusing topic-specific language – Jargon – Repeated content

Step 5: Use Visuals • Information retention increases as much as 6 -fold when visuals are combined with words. • Focus your visuals on the key points related to your “take-home message. ”

Step 6: Be Confident and Persuasive • You must believe you are the expert and you must display such confidence. • You must incorporate persuasive language to convince your audience of the importance of the topic and the take-home message. • Your confidence and persuasiveness are directly proportional to the reaction of and information retained by your audience.

Step 7: End Strong • You should clearly articulate the take-home message. – Do not make your audience guess as to the point of your presentation. • Incorporate a strong, meaningful, and perhaps dramatic concept to illustrate the take-home message. – This will help your audience better retain the message.