When you have to learn a new piece of software, do you sit down and watch all the videos and really put it through its paces so you know what it can do? Or do you, like me, impatiently learn the bare minimum that will allow you to do the thing you got the software for in the first place? (see: my relationship with Excel and PowerPoint, in particular.)
One of the best-kept secrets about practicing communication skills is that, surprise, it’s like practicing anything else. You have to put in the boring, repetitive work before you can really rely on these skills to be there when you need them. This means regularly practicing in low-stakes situations before the big meeting/interview/presentation comes up.
The kinds of things you can practice include: eye contact, tempo, inflection, and volume of your voice, deliberate movement and gestures, and most importantly, coming to the interaction with deliberate, not default, intention.
If you make time to practice in regular meetings, on the phone, even in casual conversation, you’ll expand what feels comfortable and natural to you. You’ll start to see the range of behavior that’s available to you, and you’ll see the impact this kind of presence has on other people. You’ll be using the whole suite of software, not just the formula function.
