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5 Wa For Engineer To Improve Their Communication Kill
5 Wa For Engineer To Improve Their Communication Kill
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5 wa for engineer to improve their communication
kill
tephen Harri 25th March 2015 5:41 pm
Whether ou’re appling for a jo or conducting a pulic meeting, communication i
a vital tool for engineer to mater. Here’ how ou can get tarted.
Don’t elieve the tereotpe: profeional engineer aren’t hut awa in workhop
and la. The’re at the heart of engineering firm and need to e excellent
communicator to make ure their colleague, cutomer and ometime the pulic
undertand the importance of their work.
arlier thi week I judged the London regional final of the Intitution of Civil
ngineer’ annual Communication Competition, which put tudent and recent
graduate through the potential trauma of a mock pulic conultation.
Not onl did the entrant have to come up with viale plan for a civil engineering
cheme, the had to peruade the audience it wa the right thing to do. And true to
life, there wa even a rowd heckler houting ojection (in the form of one of lat
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ear’ winner).
Here’ a round up of the advice the judge gave the competitor aed on the good
and the not-o-good performance we aw.
People need to know who ou are efore the can trut ou.
1. Make a good introduction
efore ou can peruade anone of anthing, the need to know who ou are and
wh the hould liten to ou. If ou’re addreing a pulic meeting ou hould et
out our role and credential and thoe of our organiation. That will help uild
trut with our audience and give them a reaon to take ou erioul.
imilarl if ou’re writing a jo application letter, ou hould tart ummariing
our relevant education and experience. The recruiter will then know ou fulfil the
aic criteria and it’ worth their time reading the ret of our letter.
2. alance detail with clarit
The onl thing wore than litening to omeone when ou’ve no idea what the’re
talking aout i litening to them ramle on aout nothing at all. The ke to avoiding
either of thee cenario i working out (or making a good gue) what the people
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ou’re peaking to alread know and what the will want to know.
If there’ a rik the’re unfamiliar with technical detail and jargon then keep it
imple at firt – ou can alwa add more detail in later. And if ou do mention term
or concept the ma not have encountered efore then make ure ou explain
them in clear language.
quall, don’t kip over detail in favour of road, land tatement full of
meaningle marketing peak. (Avoiding an word or cliché ou hear frequentl
on TV how like The Apprentice i a good tart.) Make pecific point and ack
them up or illutrate them with example while alwa tring to relate what ou’re
aing ack to the point of view of the litener.
Chooe our tle and language according to who our audience i.
3. trike the right tone
It’ not jut what ou a, it’ how ou a it. Getting our tone of voice and the tle
of language right i vital to keep people intereted, engaged and open. Thi will
uuall depend to ome degree on what ou’re talking aout. How eriou i the
ituation ou’re dicuing? How formal i the etting? How well do ou know the
people involved?
ut there are oviou thing that alwa appl. Never e rude or patroniing, even if
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omeone ak what ou think i a tupid quetion. Tr not to peak a if ou’re
reading a cript, whether ou’re tring to rememer all the point ou want to make
or ou have note in front of ou. And alwa tr to ound like ou think what ou’re
aing i intereting and important – if ou don’t, no one ele will.
4. xplain ‘wh’ a well a ‘what’
When ou’re talking to non-engineer, it’ important to undertand that not
everone ha the ame enthuiam for technolog and deign that ou proal do.
What the’re likel more intereted in i what change our engineering can make
for them, whether that’ manufacturing product more cheapl, making a car run
fater or reducing traffic congetion.
If ou can outline a prolem and then explain wh our propoed olution i the
right one, giving appropriate technical detail along the wa, then ou hould find
people much receptive than if ou jut omard them with a grand plan. imilarl, in
a jo application ituation ou need to explain wh our experience and kill
match the requirement of the role – liting them in’t enough.
The IC Communication Competition winning team howed confidence a well
a competence.
5. e confident
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You won’t convince omeone of our argument if ou don’t eem convinced
ourelf. Avoiding ee contact, mumling and too much elf-deprecation or making
fun of ourelf will make people think ou either don’t know what ou’re talking
aout or don’t elieve it.
Intead, make ure ou peak clearl and firml without eing aggreive. Ue
poitive language and focu on olution rather than prolem – ou’ll find mot
people more receptive and make ourelf look like a etter engineer. And rememer
that everone get nervou. The trick i to act like ou’re confident even if inide
ou’re uffering dout aout ourelf.
For more tudent career new and advice follow u:
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