Note to business leaders: tell your HR Department you're about to hire a new communications manager. How about filing out a W-9 form for Twitter?
Your newest executive coach is just a click away. Don't scoff. Twitter can be a highly effective teacher of powerful communication strategies for executives. And cost-effective!
Best of all, you don't have to actually post on Twitter to become a better communicator. You can begin by just reading effective CEO tweets. Folks like Sir Richard Branson and Tony Robbins are great models of executives who "get' what a message should be. They've discovered impressive ways to package their messages in succinct ways.Very strategic.
As an executive presentation coach for many years, I've come to respect the communication lessons a good tweet can impart. Hmmm. Am I putting myself out of a job?
A Time and Place for Twitter-Speak
Twitter's character limit is obviously not the best choice for all types of executive communication. For example, creating your vision or mission statement or designing a new sales strategy dictates more than 140 characters. But in terms of communicating those ideas, well, you can't beat lessons from the world of Twitter.
Here are five best practices Twitter can teach CXOs about communicating verbally as well as when writing.
1. Net it out. The 140 character-limit forces us to think in terms of a main point. Make it, edit non-essential details, and move on. Too many executives go on and on and on. Twitter think is about "get to the point"
2. Offer value-rich content. Have something worthwhile to say. If you're not informing, inspiring or motivating your troops, hold off on communicating.
3. Be conversational. No one likes to read or hear a business leader droning on in corporate speak. Talk like a real human being and have a compelling conversation.
4. Use precise words. Twitter forces us to rethink the power of words and phrases and chose a precise vocabulary. "Align our company strategy to customer priorities." UGH! How about, "Think like the customer."
5. Listen to your audience. It's not always about what you want to say. Think about what your audience needs to hear.
6. Don't tweet people to death! That might mean cutting back on the amount of your corporate communications. Keep the channels of communication open, but don't overload.
Practice Makes Perfect
Even seasoned CEOs need to practice communicating. Learning to deliver a message in a succinct and powerful way takes practice. Start with your emails, move on to voice mail, then your blog, and once you feel comfortable, roll-out Twitter-speak into your meetings and presentations. Concise CXO-speak makes for happier employees!
P.S. All the sentences in this post are under 140 characters!