Elevate Your Message

Participant Guide

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Table of Contents
1. Learning Objectives..................................................................................................................3
2. Activity: How Good Are You at Communicating?.....................................................................3
3. Benefits of Good Communication............................................................................................7
4. Keys to Productive Communication.........................................................................................7
5. Activity: Choose Wisely............................................................................................................8
6. Using Productive Conversations to Gather Input.....................................................................9
7. Benefits of Communicating with Stakeholders........................................................................9
8. Speaking Effectively with Stakeholders....................................................................................9
9. Activity: Stakeholder Communication Planning Worksheet..................................................10
10. Speaking Effectively with Senior Leadership......................................................................11
11. Additional Senior Leadership Tips......................................................................................11
12. Activity: What Would I Do?................................................................................................12
13. Additional Resources..........................................................................................................13

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1. Learning Objectives
During today’s workshop, you will learn how to:
 Benchmark your current communication capability.
 Utilize a Stakeholder Communication Planning Worksheet to effectively prepare for
stakeholder conversations.
 Identify how speaking to Senior Leadership differs from Stakeholder conversations.
 Recognize effective communication behaviors and skills that can assist you in elevating
your message.

2. Activity: How Good Are You at Communicating?

Communication is a skill that can be developed over time. To better understand what your
personal strengths and areas of opportunity are, please complete the communication
assessment below.

For each question, circle the frequency at which you perform the communication skill.

1. When communicating with others, I adapt my message, style and tone to my audience:
a. Always/Almost Always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely/Never

2. I pay attention to the non-verbal signals I’m sending to make sure they are consistent
with my words:
a. Always/Almost Always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely/Never

3. I demonstrate that I am listening by nodding or saying words like, “Yes,” and “I see,”:
a. Always/Almost Always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely/Never

4. I can watch the body language and facial expressions of the person I am talking to:
a. Always/Almost Always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely/Never

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 5. I maintain eye contact:
a. Always/Almost Always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely/Never

6. I try to understand the other person’s point of view by asking open-ended questions:
a. Always/Almost Always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely/Never

7. I show I’m engaged in a conversation by responding to the person or group I’m with:
a. Always/Almost Always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely/Never

8. When having to deliver correction or criticism to someone, I stay focused on identifying

the problem and being factual rather than emotional:
a. Always/Almost Always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely/Never

9. I treat others respectfully, even when I strongly disagree with what they are saying:
a. Always Almost Always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely/Never

10. I refrain from using absolutes like “always” and “never” when having a
difficult conversation:
a. Always/Almost Always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely/Never

11. I find myself interrupting because I want to make a point before I forget it:
a. Always/Almost Always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely/Never

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 12. If I think I know what someone is going to say, I finish their sentences for them:
a. Always/Almost Always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely/Never

13. I stop listening and tune the person out when their views are different than mine:
a. Always/Almost Always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely/Never

14. I’m quick to offer solutions when someone is telling me about their problems:
a. Always/Almost Always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely/Never

15. I try to think of a good or clever response while the other person is still speaking:
a. Always/Almost Always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely/Never

16. I try to make the other person to see my point of view at all costs:
a. Always/Almost Always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely/Never

17. I find myself using jargon or “corporate speak” frequently in:

a. Always/Almost Always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely/Never

**Answer Key appears on next page.

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Answer Key:
The first ten questions (1-10) reflect effective communication skills.
 If you answered Always/Almost Always or Often, you are on the right track.
 If you answered Sometimes or Rarely/Never, your skills may need some practice and
polish. This can help you identify areas you would like to improve.
The last seven questions (11-17) reflect negative communication habits and traits.
 If you answered Sometimes or Rarely/Never, that’s great! You have a good foundation
to begin building upon.
 For any questions where you answered Always/Almost Always or Often, notate the item
for further reflection and focus.

1. Using the communication assessment results, identify one or two areas that are
personal strengths.

2. Using the communication assessment results, identify one or two areas of opportunity.

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3. Benefits of Good Communication
Notes:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

4. Keys to Productive Communication

Notes:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

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5. Activity: Choose Wisely
Review the scenarios below. For each scenario, determine the target audience, key message
and the appropriate communication method.

Scenario 1: Your manager has status update meetings with you twice a month that are typically
face-to-face. However, in the off weeks, your manager prefers you provide him or her with a
quick recap of your work for the week.

Target Audience:
Key Message:
Communication Method:

Scenario 2: You are leading a large team project. One of your duties as the project manager is
to keep your manager and team informed of weekly progress. This week there have been
several issues, including: a $50,000 shortfall for materials that is not accounted for in the
project budget, a misunderstanding at the last oversight committee that you needed to clear up
and a request for overtime for one of the developers.

Target Audience:
Key Message:
Communication Method:

Scenario 3: You recently completed a certification course in project management that was
provided by an external training company. Your manager has asked you to share some of your
key insights with your team at the next team meeting.

Target Audience:
Key Message:
Communication Method:

Scenario 4: You and a coworker are assigned to partner on a presentation for the next All-
Hands meeting. Your topic focuses on the benefits of using standard work processes when
troubleshooting problems. You and your partner are going to meet tomorrow to discuss
your progress.

Target Audience:
Key Message:
Communication Method:

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6. Using Productive Conversations to Gather Input
Notes:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

7. Benefits of Communicating with Stakeholders

Notes:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

8. Speaking Effectively with Stakeholders

Notes:

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

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 9. Activity: Stakeholder Communication Planning Worksheet
Read the scenario below. Utilize the Stakeholder Communication Planning Worksheet to assist
in identifying important information to include in the upcoming presentations.

Scenario: You are taking on a large customer advocacy project. This project will touch many
different departments, and you want to make sure you have made all of the department heads
aware of your project. There are two departments that you will require significant support
from.

Janice Reynolds leads the Customer Service Group. You will need her to actively share her
consumer insights and feedback so you can ensure your solutions are aligning with customer
concerns. You don’t know Janice very well, but you have asked around about how to approach
her. Many people have said that Janice worries that her department will be held in a bad light if
the consumer data trends negatively. Jack Smith leads the Technology Service group. You would
love to automate some of the solutions you expect to implement. You will need extensive
resources from his team to ensure this is done accurately. You have worked with Jack before,
and know that he guards his team’s time fiercely because they get pulled in many directions.
Lastly, you will need to meet with Sam Evans. He is the Director of your department. Even
though your manager has kept Sam appraised of the project, Sam has requested that you
provide him with an overview.

Stakeholder Key Interests & Issues: Actions/ Key Messages

Information: Why is this Support Requested
Name, Role, Team important/relevant to
the stakeholder?

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10. Speaking Effectively with Senior Leadership
Notes:

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

11. Additional Senior Leadership Tips

Notes:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

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12. Activity: What Would I Do?
Read the scenario below. As you read, reflect on what you would do differently, using what you
have learned in this course. Write down your observations.

Scenario: Observations:
Leigh: Well, I met with Eve DuPoint regarding our project. I
don’t think it went very well.

Manager: Why do you say that?

Leigh: I just don’t think she understood what I needed from

her. She came in late and had to leave the meeting early, so I
didn’t even get to go through my whole presentation.

Manager: How did you handle that?

Leigh: Not very well. I got flustered, but I tried to keep

powering through.

Manager: What were your important messages?

Leigh: I wanted her to sign-off on allowing some of her team

to join the project, but she got wrapped up on two of my
data points.

Manager: What was the concern with the data points?

Leigh: She didn’t feel they accurately represented the

current state.

Manager: How did you present the data?

Leigh: I thought about using a slide deck, but I wanted it to

be more informal. I thought that if we were just having a
friendly chat she would be more likely to say yes to
my request.

Manager: What do you think you should do now?

Leigh: I have to start over with her and try again, but I have
lost credibility so it will be harder to get to “yes”.

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13. Additional Resources
Here are links to additional resources you may find helpful.

• Effective Communication - Lawrence Robinson, Jeanne Segal, Ph. D., and Melinda Smith,
M.A.

• Communication Works for Those Who Work At It – Manon Deguire

• Managing Communications Effectively and Efficiently – Gina Abudi

• Video: How to Effectively Communicate Your Strategy

• Ted Talk: Ten Ways to Have a Better Conversation with Celeste Headlee

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