My brother and I used to joke that our parents split all their genetic gifts down the middle and gave half to each of us:
I’m a cognitive linguist; my world is all about words.
He was a nuclear engineer; his world is all about numbers.
And we’d further joke that they didn’t teach us to share, as evidenced by my lack of mathematical prowess and his propensity for “creative” spelling.
Nevertheless, we’ve both managed to grow up to be happy, successful, and productive members of society.
But sometimes I do still feel a nagging question in some situations:
“Which is more important, words or numbers?”
Fortunately, on this week’s episode of the Speaking to Influence, Dan Bradbury, investor, Mergers-and-acquisitions specialist, and author of the book “Turnover is Vanity, Profit is Sanity,” puts that question to rest once and for all.
Dan shares his Three Communication Commandments for a successful merger or acquisition:
- Connect Personally
- Understand the Other Person’s Motives
- Articulate Your Numbers
Of course, at face value, I’d still tease my brother and say I was right, that words are at the heart of all three commandments while numbers were only mentioned in #3 (and even in that, it’s not just knowing the numbers, but being able to articulate them.)
But I know as well as any business leader that, as the saying goes, “if you don’t know your numbers, you don’t know your business.” And, frankly, the numbers are probably at the root of the other person’s motives, i.e. commandment #2.
So – drat – it’s a tie.
Working through those commandments with us, Dan also dove into:
- How to build trust and rapport
- How to get to the heart of what motivates other people
- Why not just knowing but being able to articulate your numbers effectively is necessary to gain buy-in (in any situation)
- How developing “presence” involves being fully present and engaged in conversations
- The importance of non-verbal communication and listening skills (and how often they are crucially missed)
Listen to the full conversation here or watch the video on YouTube here .
But numbers aren’t the only thing we need to be able to articulate clearly and effectively. Even the way we say our own name needs to be done right if we want to make a strong, positive, and lasting first impression.
And that’s exactly what Dean Rotbart and I dove into yesterday on Monday Morning Radio.
One more place you can go to strengthen your numbers AND your communication skills, at least, if you happen to be in the Philadelphia area, is to the Burlington County Chamber of Commerce “Women’s Business Conference: Communication, Leadership and Empowerment for Women Leaders.”
I am honored to have been invited to speak there and share my 8 Keys to establishing your brand as a go-to thought leader.
It’s on March 8th, International Women’s Day, which is just around the corner, and is sure to be a day full of inspiring stories and powerful take-aways. For more info and registration check it out here.
If you can join live, I’ll walk you through them step by step. But if you can’t make it, fear not – you can still get your own complimentary copy of the 8 Keys here.
