Use simple, forceful, and vivid language to enhance communication strength.
Non-verbal cues like eye contact and posture contribute to conveying authority effectively.
Deep dives
Defining Power and Status
Power is defined as the ability to achieve goals despite opposition, emphasizing the importance of being truthful. Jeff Fer highlights that people appreciate learning how to be effective in a world where truth can be challenging. He stresses the significance of conveying power through behaviors like maintaining eye contact, standing tall, and using forceful gestures.
Non-Verbal and Verbal Behaviors for Power
Non-verbal behaviors play a crucial role in displaying power, with examples like avoiding tilting the head or hunching over. For verbal communication, using simple and forceful language, along with avoiding filler words and hesitation, contributes to a powerful image. Jeff Fer explains how being loud and mildly impolite can enhance one's perceived power.
Emotions and Communication Impact
Expressing strong emotions, particularly anger, can be more impactful than sadness or remorse in certain situations. Displaying passion, energy, and confidence in communication can influence others positively. Emotions are deemed contagious, highlighting the importance of conveying energy and conviction to enhance communication effectiveness.
“Simple language, forceful language, vivid language, and keeping it simple and direct,” says Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer, are all tools to increase the strength of your communication. In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, host and lecturer Matt Abrahams interviews Jeffrey Pfeffer, author of Dying for a Paycheck, about the verbal and nonverbal ways we can harness, or give away, our authority in communication.
To hear more from Jeffrey, listen to Pfeffer on Power, a podcast about accelerating your career.