Poor communication can be unclear, but it can also lack empathy for and understanding of the effect it might have on the receiver. Think of the impact this can have. Kevin Murray (2013) states, “Leaders who cannot communicate well, who lack the human touch, can create organizations which are toxic to work in, filled with turmoil and conflict, going nowhere, achieving little” (p. 2). I’m willing to bet that it’s possible to trace quite a few troubling issues in your school to ineffective communication. Many conflicts and concerns are rooted in either lack of communication or miscommunication. Teachers not knowing something or parents hearing rumors—issues like these typically stem from poor communication. This can happen frequently during crisis-type situations. Once I had a fire alarm go off, and I was unable to send an email to the community right away. Within minutes, rumors were flying, from “There was a fire in the cafeteria” to “The building collapsed because of the flames” when in actuality, a student had pulled the fire alarm and there was no fire. Richard DuFour and Michael Fullan (2013) sum this up when they say, “The effectiveness of educational systems at all levels is diminished without clear communication from a cohesive team of leaders” (p. 25).
The challenges are complex and varied, but the solutions are surprisingly simple. By mastering the five modes of communication that this book covers, you will have the tools you need to lead your school to success for every student. The next section contains an overview of this book along with descriptions of each of the different types of communication that every leader should be aware of.
About This Book
This book is divided into five chapters. Each chapter discusses a form of verbal, nonverbal, or written communication. You undoubtedly use one or more of these on a daily basis. Each chapter ends with reflection questions to give you an opportunity to process what you have learned and to reflect on your current communication practices to see how you can improve them. In addition, at the end of every chapter, you will find several reproducible pages. The first of these is that chapter’s corresponding challenge, which guides you through using the rest of the reproducibles to analyze your strengths and weaknesses, create personal goals to strengthen and reinforce your skills, and put your learning into action.
Chapter 1: Communicating Through Presentations
This chapter begins with outlining all the different purposes presentations serve. I share how to structure presentations along with what elements make presentations effective or ineffective. The chapter also explores ways to be a charismatic presenter and the importance of soliciting quality feedback in order to improve your presentation skills.
Chapter 2: Communicating Through Meetings
In this chapter, I outline the different types of meetings school leaders can have and the different purposes meetings serve. I also share elements of what makes meetings effective or ineffective.
Chapter 3: Communicating Through Tough Conversations
This chapter reviews the different purposes tough conversations serve as well as discussing when those conversations are necessary. I explore barriers that can prevent you from having tough conversations, and share elements of ineffective tough conversations. The chapter ends by providing strategies for effective tough conversations.
Chapter 4: Communicating Through Writing
This chapter goes into the different purposes written communication serves. I explore the various advantages and disadvantages of written communication as well as the different types of written communication. The chapter ends by providing various strategies for effective writing.
Chapter 5: Communicating Through Body Language
This chapter begins with outlining the impact body language has on communication. I explore body language communication as it relates to the face, arms and hands, and legs and feet. The chapter also explores how your appearance and emotional intelligence play a role in body language. The chapter ends by providing tips for leaders on appropriate body language.
The Five-Month Communication Challenge
All five chapters culminate with a segment of a communication challenge that you can use to improve your skills. Each chapter segment pertains to the contents of that specific chapter. That is, the five-month communication challenge consists of five individual challenges that should each last one month.
During each month, follow the suggestions in the challenge column. For example, if you decide to read the book in order, the first chapter is about presentations and the challenge will help you improve your skills in presenting—do that challenge every time you present during that month. When you move on to the next month, continue with those tasks to increase the effectiveness of your presentations, but then add on the next challenge for every meeting you have in the next month. At the end of each month, reflect on the ways in which that challenge impacted your communication. By the end of the fifth month, you should have mastered effective presentations, meetings, tough conversations, writing, and body language.
Time to Take Up the Challenge
As you get ready to learn tips and strategies on how to communicate more effectively in order to lead more effectively, keep in mind you do not need to read the chapters in order. I have designed each chapter in such a way that it stands on its own, so you can go directly to the chapters that you most want information on, and then commit to improve your skills with the corresponding challenge, where you incorporate the tips and strategies outlined in each chapter into your practice. The challenge is a good way to ensure you will put your new learning into practice. Many times, we learn about great things, but we never change our practice so we don’t get better. This challenge will help you sharpen your communication skills, so I challenge you to take it!
CHAPTER 1
Communicating Through Presentations
The success of your presentation will be judged not by the knowledge you send but by what the listener receives.
—Lilly Walters
School leaders present all the time to a variety of stakeholders. In fact, leading presentations is almost certainly a common task that you partake in. Presentations to faculty, parents, students, business partners, and others are a regular occurrence in the educational leader’s world. Because of how much you present, and how important the messages are, it’s essential to ensure that you continually improve your ability to present effectively. “Conveying and selling a poignant, memorable message takes specific knowledge and skills. Do you know them? Do you have them?” (Heflebower, 2019, p. 8). As a result of the frequency and the potential impact, presenting is a critical communication skill—a presentation is your chance as a leader to inspire your stakeholders to do what is best for students. Chris Anderson (2016), curator of TED Talks, uses the phrase presentation literacy to say that anyone can learn the skills to present effectively and that, in fact, “In the 21st century, presentation literacy should be taught in every school” (p. 7).
I define presentations in this book as mostly one-way communication when the school leader is standing in the front, communicating to his or her audience for a variety of different purposes. If you’re encouraging a lot of participation or dialogue in a presentation, I would consider that more of a meeting than a presentation (see chapter 2, page 35). That being said, this doesn’t mean that you do all the talking in