I had a baby!

Well, not me personally but my beautiful wife Arielle did.

It was amazing.

And the reason for my writing hiatus.

So thank you for your patience in between blogs.

They’re coming back Tuesday September 21st and will be dropping every other Tuesday at least until the end of the year.

Thank you again for all your amazing support as I share Breakthrough Communicator strategies with my amazing community :)

Get the Decision-Maker to Open Up and Share: Breakthrough Communicator Tip #7

Hello everyone,

This is Christopher Peck with Speak Into Action Communications.

Breakthrough Communicators determine who they work with, and who they bring into their personal and professional community by modeling the behavior they wish to receive. When we share our authentic, vulnerable child in charge, those individuals we want to surround ourselves with will accept that authentic self and share theirs in turn.

But then how do we get the Decision-Maker to open up and share even more?

Ask open-ended questions.

If you want your other to engage, ask questions which penetrate the protective shielding that is looking to dismiss and shut down trust-building opportunities.

Remember the child in charge has been hurt. The Decision-Maker is afraid to let down their guard and build deeper relationships because they've been injured before. Our protective armor is looking for a way to safeguard the child. 

And while "Yes" and "No" questions can be highly influential when used strategically, they're meaningless if you're not willing to take the time to build rapport through sincere, thought-provoking, open-ended questions.

By committing to questions which interest the child in charge, you invite the inner decision-maker to share their thoughts and feelings.

In this way you demonstrate the value and importance of your other's needs, emotions, and opinions.

People love talking about themselves, the same way they love hearing the sound of their own name. Open-ended questions provide space for our other to talk and share the love, community, and security they're desperately searching for.

So in your conversations this weekend prioritize open-ended questions. Ask questions which require more thought and engagement, not less.

"What" questions.

"Why" questions.

"How" questions.

These require more than one-word answers, are of great value in information gathering, encourage faster rapport and deeper relationships, and most importantly breakthrough our self-created armor and speak directly to the inner Decision-Maker.

Thanks for reading; like, share, and comment with your favorite open-ended questions for building deeper relationships.

This is Christopher Peck with Speak Into Action Communications--helping businesses perform better by training better performers.

Be A Breakthrough Communicator For Yourself

Hello everyone,

Christopher Peck with Speak Into Action Communications.

Breakthrough Communicators elevate their interactions and build genuine rapport by utilizing strategies such as being clear and specific with our action-based intentions and expectations, committing to inquiry-based listening, and being gentle but firm when sharing our expertise, ideas, passions and goals.

But there is one more commitment I want you to make.

One more skill which ensures Breakthrough Communicators develop the loving, secure communities they desire.

That skill?

Take every Breakthrough Communicator strategy you have learned and apply it to yourself.

Commit to daily conversation and introspection with yourself.

Stay in tune with your inner decision maker. What does your child in charge really want?

Ask yourself thoughtful questions.

Listen to the answers.

Be gentle but firm with your own needs.

And don't nag yourself.

You are a remarkable human being. And you deserve to be seen and heard by the Breakthrough Communicator you're committed to being.

So make that guarantee to yourself.

Go back through and re-read or re-watch the 20 strategies for Breakthrough Communicators.

Then ask yourself, "Am I using these strategies on myself."

Am I listening to my needs?

Am I honest about my goals and intentions?

Am I building a deeper, more meaningful relationship with myself?

If yes, keep it up!

If no, start today.

You deserve to be seen and heard. Not just by others, but by yourself too.

Thanks for reading everyone; continue to follow my blog, subscribe to our email, and join me on YouTube for short reminders and exercises ensuring our regular commitment to Breakthrough Communicator strategies.

This is Christopher Peck with Speak Into Action Communications; helping businesses perform better by training better performers.

Don't Be A Nag: Breakthrough Communicator Tip #20

Hello everyone,

Christopher Peck with Speak Into Action Communications.

Raise you hand if you enjoy being nagged.

No you don't, put your hand down.

No one likes to be nagged.

By a partner…

A parent…

That guy at work who wants to borrow your truck next week to move a couch…

No one likes to be nagged.

Which is why Breakthrough Communicators don't.

Harder than it seems.

But Breakthrough Communicators avoid nagging by understanding three crucial aspects of nagging:

1) It comes from a well-intentioned place. Your parent/partner/the guy from work needs something. And if the need is great enough to nag, it's probably pretty important. But nagging is so detrimental to our well-intentioned purposes because even if it best serves our other, the risk of shutting down the child in charge and triggering self-defense mechanisms makes it a really ineffective form of persuasion.

2) Nagging is negative attention and Breakthrough Communicators succeed in getting what they want by showing acceptance and using positive language. So we're not going to succumb to a communication tactic which undermines our tried and true process for succeeding in our intentions and developing deeper, more meaningful personal and professional relationships.

3) Nagging, for the most part, undermines all Breakthrough Communicators strategies. It is often a result of not listening, not asking open-ended questions, not being firm with your intentions, not creating collaboration and cooperation by offering options and alternatives, and not keeping it simple.

How many of us could easily get our friend at work to loan their truck with the promise of a tank of gas or a drink after work? Friday doesn't work, that's okay I'm off Saturday and Sunday too.

I know you're out of town next month, is there anyone watching your dog.

When we make our intentions about our other too, then nagging becomes unnecessary.

So don't nag. Instead, take the opportunity to commit to the awesome Breakthrough Communicator strategies which time and again help individuals accomplish their goals and build stronger relationships.

Thanks for reading everyone; as always, like, comment, and share with current and aspiring Breakthrough Communicators so together we can build stronger communities one effective communicator at a time.

This is Christopher Peck with Speak Into Action Communications; helping businesses perform better by training better performers.

"It's Not Valuable if We Don't Understand It": Breakthrough Communicators Tip #15

Hello everyone,

Christopher Peck with Speak Into Action Communications.

Before I started Speak Into Action, I was a theatre professor at the University of South Alabama. Part of my academic responsibility was theatre scholarship, and believe me, if there was a five-syllable word that fit the article I was writing, I used it. 

But changing careers didn't change my need to use five-syllable language. And even though I was responsible for teaching others to communicate their needs more effectively, the language I chose made it a struggle to communicate my own value.

Breakthrough Communicators have ideas, feelings, and needs we want to share with others. Those ideas have influence because we've demonstrated ourselves as a trusted relationship and built genuine rapport with our other.

But we can run the risk of undermining that trust, rapport, and value if we don't commit to this Breakthrough Communicator skill:

Keep

It

Simple

Drop the jargon, drop the language only you understand, and don't overwhelm others with too much information.

If you want to be understood, you must keep your value, needs, and ideas succinct, simple-to-follow, and direct.

Remember, people have short attention spans. They are not going to stay engaged if they don't understand what you're saying.  Individuals also retain only one to three pieces of information from any given conversation or presentation. So there's no value in too much information.

Set yourself and your other up for success by keeping it simple.

—This is what I want you to do.

—This is how I need your help.

—This is the value I bring.

By keeping it simple, Breakthrough Communicators build deeper, more meaningful personal and professional relationships.

So practice this week.

In one sentence:

How do you help others?

What kind of people do you want to meet and add to your community?

What is your big idea?

Build and demonstrate confidence, get precise with your messaging, and keep other engaged by...

Keeping it simple.

Thanks for reading everyone, like comment, and share with current and aspiring Breakthrough Communicators.

This is Christopher Peck with Speak Into Action Communications; helping businesses perform better, by training better performers.

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