Assertive Communication for Female Leaders
Advancing Women’s Careers by Building Powerful Communication Skills
Jun 22, 2009
Undoubtedly, professionals who communicate well and assertively are in a better position to advance their careers than those who don’t. For women, in particular, having strong communication skills is fundamental to their survival and advancement in male dominated industries.
Female leaders need to learn how to improve their communication style in order to earn the respect and cooperation of their male counterparts. They need to become comfortable speaking up with poise and self-confidence.
Effective leaders, regardless of gender, are constantly using their communications skills to influence others in face-to-face meetings, virtual presentations, conference calls, or public speeches. As Noel M. Ticky says in The Leadership Engine, “There is no other role for a leader than to energize others.”
Communication Challenges for Female Leaders
There are many challenges that leaders in general, and female leaders in particular, must confront in their daily interactions. Some of these include:
- Not being heard or acknowledged for their contributions.
- Needing others to back their comments in order to be taken seriously.
- Being interrupted by other speakers.
- Not being asked for input.
- Being seen as emotional under pressure, unable to take the heat in a crisis.
While communication skills are critical to any leadership role and are the backbone of other management skills (such as influencing, delegating, providing feedback, or building relationships), the reality is that they can be developed just like any others skills. Sure that some people will be better communicators than others, but that shouldn’t stop anyone from enhancing their communication style.
The Must Haves for Compelling Group Communication
Group communication, especially in the format of large audience presentations and public speeches, can be particularly daunting to female leaders. This is certainly a skill that requires lots of practice, and organizations such as Toastmasters can be very helpful in providing a safe and supportive practice environment. Their "10 Tips for Public Speaking" are the perfect starting point for building one’s communication skills.
The following pointers will also help speakers deliver a compelling group communication:
- Having an attention-grabbing opening that draws the listeners in. For example, an inspirational quotation, a metaphor, a personal story that the listeners can relate to, a company or team goal that affects everyone, etc.
- Including a clear and succinct explanation of the purpose of the meeting/presentation: “We are here to discuss about the transformation of our Product Development department”.
- Delivering a clear message that sums up the argument: “I believe this transformation is absolutely needed for us to achieve our corporate goal of becoming a market leader within the next twelve months.”
- Including a clear outline of how the goals will be achieved, addressing the audience’s questions and concerns.
- Closing with an outline of the next steps, timeframes, and available resources.
With so many resources available to help female leaders develop their communication skills – including books, articles, courses, local Toastmasters groups, and communication coaches – becoming a powerful and inspirational speaker is certainly an achievable task. But there is one more rule that all speakers should abide by, no matter what: the speaker has something to say.
According to one anecdote, Albert Einstein was once invited to deliver a speech at Harvard. After a detailed introduction from the organizers, he came to the podium, paused for a long time, and then apologized: “I really have nothing to say. When I have something to say, I’ll come back.” And then he sat down. Technique should never substitute for content.
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