What To Say When You Don’t Know

What To Say!
Women are often tasked with people management issues. If you are, you
have a key role in promoting a ‘listening culture’.

For organisations to be successful, a ‘listening culture’ is vital. It brings greater

performance, higher productivity and more staff buy-in, because when staff feel
valued and recognised they do more to support the business.

As a woman you’re often seen as having caring and nurturing skills, which is why
there are more women than men in Personnel Departments. It also means you
have a vital role to play in the effective communication that is key to developing a
listening culture.

This may not be easy. Women are thought to be good listeners, but people aren’t
necessarily born that way. It takes training and confidence-building to do so. And
individuals are often promoted because of their academic prowess rather than
people management skills, and so receive insufficient training in this invaluable
management tool.

Time (or more specifically lack of it) can also be a factor for many women; and it
can be easy to find yourself getting out of your depth in a conversation and not
knowing what to say next – discouraging you from engaging in similar
discussions in the future.

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The benefits of effective communication

Effective communication reduces the incidence of misunderstanding and

consequent errors, and enables employees to be more readily aligned to the
vision and leadership of the organisation, and to work more efficiently. This in
turn reduces the opportunity for disharmony, discontent or dissatisfaction, and
supports a healthy working culture.

Effective communication enables managers to be more aware of the internal and

external pressures on employees, and promotes the opportunity for flexible and
efficient management – for example by enabling the provision of suitable
interventions in the instance of sickness absence, care issues or bereavement
that might benefit from temporary, flexible working arrangements.

The importance of active listening

It goes without saying that effective communication includes active listening skills
- engaging with the person you’re listening to and responding appropriately.

The ability to listen actively enables the person who is speaking to talk without
interruption or contradiction and, by virtue of having a ‘sounding board’, clarify his
or her opinion or circumstance. This improves self-confidence and encourages a
better assessment of any proposed action, prior to it being taken.

Unfortunately, it’s often the very people who require the most help who will deny
they’re in need of such support. They will frequently assure colleagues that they
can manage and are in control of a situation, when the reality is not only that they
can’t cope, but that they have never been actively encouraged by the
organisational culture to seek help.

Active listening should therefore be seen as an essential managerial tool and

part of effective people management. It should be within the skills portfolio of all
female (and male) managers, and used in the maintenance of a stress-free work
environment and the avoidance of disruption or discontent within the workforce.

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 INTERNATIONAL MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER

The Empowerment Guru

Carole Spiers occupies a special niche as the Keynote Motivational Speaker who brings together
the separate cultures of individual empowerment and executive management - to prove to corporate
business that empowered employees measurably improve performance and, as a result, output.
The key lies in her spellbinding platform message - which is said to have changed whole lives -
backed by her own entrepreneurial record as MD of an international stress management consultancy,
with blue-chip clients ranging from Unilever and National Rail to Walt Disney, Rolls Royce and the
Bank of England.

There is a sustained demand for her presentations from major conference events to small, selective
seminars, at home and abroad.

Carole’s comments, in her specialized field of human empowerment are frequently sought by national
and international radio and TV (BBC, Sky, NBC, CNN), as well as print media (Sunday Times, Daily
Telegraph, trade and professional journals).

Her empowerment website www.carolespiers.com is a prime forum for new e-books and weblogs,
with links to action-samples of her best-known speeches.
She is currently President of the London Chapter of the Professional Speakers Association, reflecting
the universal regard in which she is held by other platform professionals, as well as by audiences.

Carole has also performed extensive ‘pro bono’ work with charities, including the Samaritans,
Dreamcatcher (SA) and as a vice-President of the International Stress Management Association.

CAROLE IS AVAILABLE FOR KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS,

AWARDS HOSTING, CONFERENCE CHAIR DUTIES,
WORKSHOP PROGRAMMES, EXECUTIVE COACHING, BUSINESS CONSULTANCY
AND MEDIA SPOKESPERSON.

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 ‘Positive Action Against Stress – Instant Stress Relief Tips ’
by
Carole Spiers

You need the book that spells out the basics

• How pressure mounts up beyond endurance
• The symptoms and psychology of stress
• 10-point strategy for managing stress levels

Get to know the basics of stress control now with this introductory
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‘What To Say When You Don’t Know What To Say’ is just one Article
out of a series, so please contact us for details of our other titles – email:
info@carolespiersgroup.com.

To book Carole for your next motivational presentation or for more information on
Carole Spiers.com – Your Personal Development and Empowerment Gateway,
please contact us:

Carole Spiers Group

Personal Development & Empowerment Gateway
Gordon House, 83-85 Gordon Ave, Stanmore, Middx. HA7 3QR. UK
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 8954 1593 Fax: + 44 (0) 20 8907 9290
Email: info@carolespiersgroup.com. Website: www.carolespiersgroup.com

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© 2006 Carole Spiers Group