Utilising Communication Skills for Personal Development (Part 2)

What is Communication?

Different scholars have proffered various definitions to describe communication. However, for the purpose of this study, we will make do with Hybels’ and Weaver’s (2001:6) proposition that “Communication is any process in which people share information, ideas and feelings. It involves not only the spoken and written word but also body language, personal mannerisms, and style - anything that adds meaning to a message”.

Going ahead to stress the importance of communication in daily existence, they also say that:    

It is vital in all areas of life. You use it to persuade; to influence relationships, to inform and to share, to discover and uncover information... Communication, and how to communicate, is so important to daily life that it spawned [sic] an entire industry of books, articles, and seminar explaining how to do it better.

To live…is to communicate. To communicate effectively is to enjoy life more (2001:5-6).

Communication Skills

There are a number of skills involved in the art of communicating. Beck, Bennet and Wall (2002:125) highlight a general list of communication skills as:

§  Speaking, listening, empathizing

§  Reading and observing

§  Identifying and using sources of information

§  Planning and structuring a presentation

§  Oral presentation skills

§  Dealing with questions

§  Reviewing own performance

§  Using IT to communicate

However, in this discourse, we shall focus only on the four major communication skills, which are also known as the four language arts. They are: 

§  Listening

§  Speaking

§  Reading, and

§  Writing

Utilising Communication Skills for Personal Development (Part 1)

Man is innately selfish in varying degrees, depending on the extent of\; hence, the focus on what I am getting as opposed to what I am giving.

should The This is an anomaly, Rohn (2005a) notes that:

What you become is far more important than what you get. The important question to ask on the job is not, “What am I getting?” Instead, you should ask, “What am I becoming?“ Getting and becoming are like Siamese twins: what you have today you have attracted by becoming the person you are today.

…. Income rarely exceeds personal development. Sometimes income takes a Lucky jump, but unless you learn to handle the responsibilities that come with it, it will usually shrink back to the amount you can handle….

It is hard to keep that which has not been obtained through personal development.

With this background on the importance of personal development as an essential requisite to enhance one’s lot in life, let us proceed to examine the inherent potentials there are in communication skills to achieve personal development; and how we as communication scholars can utilize these skills to develop ourselves and ultimately build a life worth celebrating.  The objectives of this paper therefore are:

§  The draw our attention to the sacrosanct and utilitarian nature of communication.

§  To acquaint us with the different areas of personal development there are

§  To examine how we can use communication skills to explore the various forms of personal development training to enhance ourselves.

Meanwhile, it will be apposite at this point to define some key terms that we will come across in this paper to aid our understanding.

How to Write A Winning Business Proposal (Part 2)

7 Sins of Business Proposal Writing

1.   Failure to focus on the client’s business problems and payoff

2.   No persuasive structure

3.   No clear differentiation of one compared to other vendors

4.   Failure to offer compelling value proposition

5.   Key points are buried or not highlighted

6.   Difficult to read because they are full of jargons

7.   Contain credibility killers – misspelling, grammar and punctuation errors, wrong use of client’s name, inconsistent formatting, etc

The Value of Business Proposals

To Clients

- It helps clients to compare vendors, offers or price so s/he can make an informed decision

- It helps clients to clarify complex information

- It makes the buying decision more objective for the clients

- It slows down the sales process, so clients do not feel rushed into a deal or feel taken advantage of

- Helps clients to solicit creative ideas, become educated or get free consulting

To You

- It helps you to sell

- It helps you to sell on value instead of price

- It helps you to compete successfully without having personal contact

- It enables you to sell a technical solution to a non-technical buyer

- The proposal is your marketing tool

- It helps you to influence clients or make an impression on them

- It helps to demonstrate your competence and professionalism

How to Write A Winning Business Proposal (Part 3)

Seven Key Questions To Keep You Client-focused

It is possible to jump into developing a proposal with the mind of engaging people to sign up for your cause or patronise your services. However, if such a proposal is not developed with the receiver in mind, it will probably meet a brick wall and not achieve the desired result.

In developing a proposal, here are some of the important questions you need to ask yourself that will make the document speaks to the specific needs of your client, rather than merely publicize your own solutions off the mark:

1. What is the client’s problem or need?

2. Why is this problem worth solving?

3. Which of my product/services can solve the problem or meet the need?

4. What goals will be achieved by whatever action is taken?

5. Which goal has the highest priority to them?

6. What results are likely to follow from each of my recommendations?

7. Comparing these results to the customer’s desired outcomes or goals, which recommendation is best?

Thanks for reading!

How to Write A Winning Business Proposal (Part 1)

Proposals are selling instruments which you use to solicit the patronage of your offerings or a buy-in for your cause, idea or project. Proposals do not just present only facts about your goods or organisation, but also information on the processes of executing a given project or delivering a particular service.

Generally, proposals should be:

- Accurate in information

- Detailed in coverage and

- Persuasive in presentation

What Business Proposal is Not

- It is not just a price quote

- It is not just a bill of materials

- It is not a project plan or scope of work

- It is not all about the company’s history either

Ideally, all of these should be included in your proposal. But it is more than the summation of them together. A Proposal is a sales document designed to drive the sales process towards closure!

Proposals’Litmus Tests

Generally, proposals provide answers to three basic questions:

- Why are the goods or services you are proposing worth acquiring?

- What the receiver gain from the product, service or project?

- How can your claims or promised results be validated?

Qualities of a Winning Proposal

Good business proposals should…

1.   Identify with the problems of the client

2.   Contain convincing information

3.   Contain ample details and credible explanations

4.   Be thorough and clear

5.   Be consistent in structure, language and presentation

6.   Indicate the competitive advantage of your solution

7.   Be attractive to the client in terms of cost, and

8.   Contain selling features such as track records and profile of the company.

Components of a Proposal

Below are some of the general features that are contained in a proposal:

1. Background/Problem Definition

2. Objectives of the Proposal

3. Proposed Solutions

4. Modus Operandi

5. Execution Timeframe

6. Evaluation of Results

8. Cost Implications andPayment schedule

9. Short Corporate Profile

10. Track Records or Testimonials

11. Appendices (if available)

Writing for Professional Development

For those whose vocation is writing-intensive, such as journalists, academics, secretaries, etc the command of a superb language mechanics is a great determinant of their success at the workplace as well as the prestige ascribed to them by their publics. 

People like Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, J.P. Clark, Ayo Banjo, Reuben Abati, Dare Babarinsa, are few among the contemporary people who have attained international prominence through their writing skills.

Students in academic institutions, especially those in the humanities, also need a good command of language to enhance their grades. Therefore, it behoves anyone whose line has anything to do with writing to hone his writing skill by reading and writing regularly.