<p>Who is the author of Communicate to Influence?</p>

<p>Ben Decker & Kelly Decker are the authors of Communicate to Influence.</p>

Communication Skills

Communicate to Influence Book Summary - Communicate to Influence Book explained in key points

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Communicate to Influence summary

Name: Communicate to Influence
Rating: 4.2 (183 reviews)
Author: Ben Decker & Kelly Decker

Ben Decker Kelly Decker

How to Inspire Your Audience to Action

4.2 (183 ratings)

23 mins

Brief summary

Communicate to Influence by Ben and Kelly Decker is a practical guide for improving your communication skills. It explains how to make a positive impact by using effective messaging, body language, and delivery.

Topics

Networking

Table of Contents

Communicate to Influence
Summary of 10 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 10

What’s in it for me? Become a better communicator.

Effective communication can be the deciding factor in acing that job interview or convincing investors to hop aboard your new company. Although communicating ideas effectively sounds like simple common sense, many of us continue to make basic mistakes that could cost us opportunities.

Great speakers capture the public’s imagination with inspiring rhetoric. Take renowned rousing speaker John F. Kennedy, who led the US to achieve incredible feats such as the moon landing. But great communication skills don’t necessarily have to lead to history-changing events: the techniques in these blinks can equally be used in your next meeting.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

which five common communication mistakes you’re probably making;
what role body language plays in effective communication; and
the SHARP method for fostering a connection with your audience.

Communication often fails due to five common mistakes.

If you’re giving a presentation, the last thing you want to see is the audience nodding off to sleep or playing Candy Crush on their phones.

To prevent this from happening, understand the five most common mistakes people make when trying to communicate with their audience. Avoid these, and you’ll be on your way to a great presentation.

The first mistake is to place too much importance on the content and information of your presentation.

When you fall into this trap, you end up spending all your time overanalyzing every word and zero time making sure your material is presented in an interesting way.

Even if you’re talking about the cure for cancer, standing still and speaking in a monotonous voice is bound to send people nodding off into dreamland.

The second mistake is to exhibit a lack of authenticity, which causes distrust and disconnect in the audience.

Keep in mind that in every presidential election between 2000 and 2016, the losing candidate appeared more contrived and manufactured, while the winning candidate appeared genuine and down to earth.

The third mistake is to be unprepared.

Presentations aren’t the only thing for which you can prepare. Staff meetings, business lunches and office pop-ins can all be planned out in advance. In fact, you can prepare for any situation where you anticipate a chance to communicate so that your words can inspire and influence.

The fourth mistake is to lack self-awareness.

Don’t forget that the way we see ourselves doesn’t always match up with what others see. You can be all too familiar with the way you speak and believe it to be perfectly normal, while your audience will think you’re speaking way too fast. So make sure you get feedback from someone before you deliver your big message.

The fifth mistake is adhering to the status quo.

Don’t get too used to your comfort zone and forget to challenge yourself from time to time. If you hope to grow and become a better communicator, you’ll need to take some chances.

Today, shortened attention spans and distrust of authority have put a strain on communication.

If you want your message to be heard, you need to rise above the competition. And with mobile devices making it even tougher to get people’s attention, it takes a strong voice to rise above the noise.

Online content has become part of what’s known as the attention economy, with increasing focus on mobile devices, to the point where messages from other people are pushed aside.

Use the Communicators Road Map to pinpoint your style and be as inspiring as possible.

There’s more than one way to communicate, and if you want to deliver your message in the best way possible, it pays to understand the different styles.

The Deckers have created a Communicators Road Map, consisting of four communication styles from which you can pinpoint your own. If you want to deliver your message in a way that moves your audience to action, you should aim to transition to the fourth inspiring style.

Visual displays of warmth, confidence and trust will foster connection with your audience.

Now that you have your style, it’s time to prepare your delivery. You need to remember how important your appearance and mannerisms are. Believe it or not, non-verbal communication is the most important component of clear communication.

So consider how these four simple yet powerful tools can help you make the most of visual communication.

The way you use your voice and insert pauses is crucial to effective communication.

If you were in the audience and the presenter was mumbling or whispering, it’d be understandable if you decided to walk out and spend your time elsewhere. This is why the sound of your vocal delivery is considered the second most important factor in effective communication.

The worst voice you could use is the slow monotone drone. It can make any message sound dreadfully dull.

Get your audience engaged by using stories and humor.

If you don’t want your audience to forget what you’ve said the moment they walk away, you need reliable ways to emotionally connect with them.

This is exactly what SHARPs do. They are: Stories, Humor, Analogies, References, and Pictures.

Analogies, references and pictures make your content more engaging.

Let’s continue with the final three SHARPS: Analogies, References (which also includes quotes), and pictures.

Analogies are a way to anchor an unfamiliar concept to something that is more easily understood, which makes it extremely useful if you’re dealing with a complex subject like astrophysics or microtechnology.

Get to know the wants and desires of your audience in order to get them to act.

If you’re trying to win over an audience, it makes sense to understand exactly what they want, right?

Indeed, once you’re aware of what’s relevant to your audience, you can start to design your message specifically for them.

Use the Decker Grid to structure consistent and focused messages.

Once you understand your audience and your content, it’s time to put that information into a structure, which is where the Decker Grid comes in handy.

The Decker Grid is essentially a template that helps you to organize and identify all your main points and themes.

Great communicators have an open mind-set that promotes humble confidence.

Being a great communicator is more than just talking clearly and making a point. With the combined power of your presence, voice and the right words, you can change the way people think and behave.

This makes an expert communicator a powerful influencer, but to reach this level you need to avoid the fixed mind-set in favor of a growth mind-set.

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What is Communicate to Influence about?

Communicate to Influence (2015) is a detailed guide to being an effective communicator. This covers everything from choosing the right voice to knowing how to structure and deliver your message. Gain a better understanding of the pitfalls of public speaking so that you know what to avoid, and discover some fantastic tools that will help turn your information dump into an inspiring call to action.

Communicate to Influence Review

Communicate to Influence (2015) is a book that helps individuals master the art of effective communication to drive impactful outcomes. Here's why this book is worth reading:

With valuable strategies and techniques for effective communication, this book equips readers with the tools needed to influence and persuade others successfully.
Through a combination of real-life examples and practical advice, the book provides actionable steps that can be immediately applied in various professional and personal settings.
The authors' focus on building authentic connections and creating trust in communication makes the book engaging and relatable, taking it far from being boring.

Best quote from Communicate to Influence

People crave emotional experiences. Logic makes us think, but a well-told story makes us feel – and emotions prompt us to action.

—Ben Decker & Kelly Decker

Who should read Communicate to Influence?

CEOs, managers and anyone in a leadership role
University students who want to improve their public speaking skills
Anyone who wants to be better at pitching ideas

About the Author

Ben and Kelly Decker are leading experts in business communication. They have vast coaching experience with ambitious startups as well as Fortune 500 companies. Together, they are the brains behind Decker Communications, a firm that has helped countless individuals improve their communication skills.

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Communication Skills

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