Summary

In this episode, Lauren Larson, a program manager with a background in engineering and management, discusses her experiences in managing engineers and non-technical people. She highlights the differences in communication styles and the importance of understanding and adapting to them. Lauren also shares insights on how to effectively respond to complaints and identify the underlying needs of the person making the complaint. She emphasizes the value of listening and offers advice on how to improve communication by listening more and truly understanding others. The episode concludes with a discussion on travel experiences and the importance of open and candid conversations in personal relationships.

You can reach out to Lauren at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-m-larson/

Takeaways

Understanding and adapting to different communication styles is crucial when managing engineers and non-technical people.

When responding to complaints, it is important to identify the underlying needs of the person making the complaint and provide the appropriate response (sympathy, advice, validation, empathy, or resolution).

Listening more and truly understanding others is a key communication skill that can improve relationships and resolve conflicts.

Open and candid conversations are essential in personal relationships to build trust and create a safe space for communication.

Chapters

00:30 Introduction and Background

01:39 Managing Engineers vs Non-Technical People

03:31 Dealing with Different Departments

04:59 Setting Ground Rules for Meetings

06:33 Understanding and Responding to Complaints

08:38 Different Reasons for Complaints and Responses

11:18 Rephrasing Complaints and Asking Questions

14:34 Taking Responsibility for Communication

18:07 Taking Complaints Personally

19:37 Bringing Work Lessons Home

20:31 Learning Communication Skills

23:08 Lessons from Work and Personal Life

26:52 Favorite Travel Experience and Dream Destination

28:08 Great Communicator

29:28 Communication Advice

2023 has been quite the whirlwind! I hesitated for the first half of the year to start a podcast...because it was scary. Then I spent the second half of the year putting out podcasts and learning more and more with each episode! One large recent change is that people can now listen to the podcast from my webpage!

I had no intention of this episode being about Social Media...but it was such a big part of my recap, that I figured I would just stick with it. It is a big part of how many of us communicate with the world afterall.

Chapters in this episode

00:30 Introduction and Reflections on Podcasting

01:29 Challenges with Video Clips and Social Media

03:54 Using AI Tools and Improvements in Recording

04:25 Exploring the Upsides and Downsides of Social Media

07:21 Personal Use of Social Media

09:32 Business Use of Social Media

12:00 Taking Control of Social Media

12:27 Closing Remarks and New Year's Resolution

(Show note - I have made a scheduling change. Two interviews in a row, with a solo show next week. I am thinking I may go to solo episodes every third week. Thoughts?

Ulrike Seminati is a coach, trainer and consultant who operates globally. She brings a wealth of experience as a former C-level executive, which has added to her expertise in authenti leadership and impactful communication. She uses her experience and research to help leaders establish trust and manage change.

You can learn more about her at https://ulrikeseminati.com/

or on linked in at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ulrikeseminati/

In this episode...

1:11 - She tells me how to actually pronounce her name

4:33 - Where corporate communication most commonly breaks down

7:13 - Assumptions can cause problems

12:35 - What is important for the listener

13:18 - Words that senior leaders love...but might be scary to employees

16:52 - People who resist corporate change initiatives can actually be very valuable

18:00 - Repeating a message instead of listening

19:25 - Profile of people who tend to resist change

23:19 - How to get resistant people on board

25:16 - People who resist change are the defense your team needs to balance it's offense

26:39 - Places she has travelled and wants to travel to

29:09 - Once piece of communication advice we can all benefit from

Ana is a podcast coach who helps podcasters accelerate their business goals. She loves to help people who want to make the world a better place! She grew up in Portugal so English is her second language. We discuss some of the challenges and benefits of engaging with people in your second (or third or fourth) language.

You can reach out to learn more about her at https://www.ThePodcastSpace.com/

In this episode:

3:42 Ana explains her background

9:47 How she learned spanish

18:30 Giving compliments to strangers

22:00 Using your hands to express yourself and keep people's attention

29:22 Where would she love to travel to

30:40 Who she think is a great communicator. (It's Nic Redmon who she interviews in episode 6 of ThePodcastSpace)

31:45 When you really know a language

32:45 One piece of communication advice

I recently spoke with someone for whom english is a second language. It got me thinking about how sometimes it can feel that way for me if someone uses too much jargon or slang.

1:04 I talk about a time when I used too much jargon and made myself look silly

2:46 Some jargon that you might hear in corporate America

Scope Creep - adding additional features or functions that were beyond the agreed upon scope of a project

Boil the Ocean - try to do too many things at once, cause nothing to get done

Move the needle - create noticeable, measurable change

KPI - key performance indicator, used to judge the success of a person or team

3:45 Scary sounding things a doctor might say, which are relatively 'benign'

5:30 Slang, including "wicked" and "sick"

6:59 Abbreviations that are now used in every day language like FOMO and YOLO

Carrie Beers is an international Coach, Trainer, Mentor, Speaker, and Author. Whether the topic is change management, team building, diversity and inclusion...or all things communication, Carrie has many years of experience. You can reach out to her at

linkedin.com/in/carriebeers

I start with a story I am not proud of :-( But it does illustrate the power of making people feel seen and heard.

In addition to helping reduce conflict, there are a lot of good business reasons for making people feel seen and heard. Businesses make more money and turnover is reducced!

0:46 Story

2:10 The power of people feeling seen and heard

2:46 The business reasons

5:09 Active listening

6:13 Specific compliments

7:17 How to turn a homerun into a Grand Slam!

Michael, Principal Consultant at the Myers-Briggs Company, explains the MBTI assessment, what the results mean and how understanding the differences can help with communication.

You can learn more at www.MBTIonline.com

4:00 - We talk about what it means to be an introvert...which we both are

6:10 - What a high score actually means

8:39 - Nature vs. Nurture

>>

13:56 - sensing and intuition

16:24 - thinking and feeling

20:00 - judging and perceiving

29:00 - Michael shares his favorite place to travel

30:30 - The one piece of advice we can all benefit from

If you go into a networking event thinking that it is going to be awful...you are probably correct.

3 things that can help make networking events both more fun and more productive are

-Mindset

-Structure

-Preparation

In this episode I talk about a video on Harvard Business Review by my friend Matt Abrahams about small talk. I highly suggest clicking here to listen to that as well.

Michael is an author, podcaster and entrepreneur. He coaches people on how to network well, and is launching his own event called JVConnect December 12-14. He is commonly referred to as "The guy who knows a guy" and you can learn more about him at https://www.guywhoknowsaguy.com/

He starts off explaining how he got into networking...without even having a product to sell!

7:30 - talks about being a nerd and an event he ran called "entreprenerd"

10:10 - Being your authentic self

16:30 - ADHD is his superpower

25:45 - The code of human behavior....there is actually a book about it