Efficient Leadership Communication

Top 5 Methods for Communicating with an Individual

1. Analyze your purpose
• Before you begin communicating, you need to "size up the scene" and figure out what you want to accomplish. If it's just small talk, then skip this step. If you have an agenda or a goal you want to accomplish, knowing that goal ahead of time will allow you to be more concise and to the point. In regards to leadership, the clearer you are the more efficient your team will be in accomplishing its goal.
2. Analyze your audience
• How you communicate is strongly influenced by who you're talking to. If you're talking to the president of the United States you should use different diction than if you were talking to a close friend. Recognizing your audience will allow you to use appropriate words and will allow you to not appear foolish.
3. Look in the eyes
• Always make eye-contact when talking to someone. It doesn't have to be all the time and really it doesn't even need to be in the eyes (if you find it difficult, look at the forehead!). By doing so you come across as trustworthy and genuine.   
4. Show Interest
• It's easy to tell when someone is faking attention or isn't interested. Don't be that person, even if you are indeed bored. Find something to relate to and be involved in the conversation.
5. Communicate with body language
• Body language is a huge and sometimes underrated part of the communication process. Using correct hand-gestures, standing up straight, and doing other subtle things can make yourself be more approachable and confident two great qualities for a leader.

Top 5 Methods for Communicating with a Group  

In addition to the 5 methods listed above,  the 5 following methods apply more towards communicating with a group:

1. Confidence
• The phrase "confidence is key" is true for communicating to a group. People will listen to you and be more likely to believe you if you come across as confident. Therefore being confident is crucial to communicating to a group, especially a large group. This confidence can stem from knowing your topic forwards and backwards or just being comfortable with yourself.
2. Support your ideas
• Backing up what you say with facts from reputable sources will add credibility to what you're saying.
3. When possible, use a visual aid
• If you really want to nail a few points home, adding a visual display e.g. PowerPoint, drawing on a whiteboard, etc... can add a visual component to an otherwise strictly verbal communication process. These two methods combined will help your audience remember what you say and can cater to more people's individual learning styles.
4. Have a clean and professional appearance
• You should want your audience to focus on what you're saying rather than what you look like. If you have a giant ketchup stain on your white t-shirt and dirty sweatpants people will be too busy looking at those distractions and not on what you're saying.
5. Vary your tone, speed, angle of delivery, physical location, etc...
• People get bored quickly, and speaking in a monotone while standing in one spot certainly won't help. Varying several aspects of your delivery can make what you have to say more interesting and therefore your audience is more likely to listen.

These strategies are pretty general and should work for most communication settings. Knowing them is the easy part however. Actively using them while you're communicating takes practice and is something everyone can always get better at.

My methods assumed in person communication and not communication over the phone or online. Different strategies are needed for those mediums.