The SIXCOMMS Podcast: Elevate Your Communication Skills

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This episode comes at the start of a New Year and what better time to start thinking about our personal brand and how we want to communicate that to the world.  So what is a personal brand?  Darren thinks it’s: “how you project yourself, your values and how you want the world to perceive you.”

Thinking about your personal brand might seem too big a task and perhaps a bit overwhelming, but I agree with Darren in what he says that spending a couple of days on it, sharing it with some friends and writing it down onto a maximum of two pages is a great way to start.

Some questions we discuss include:

• How do we know we are clearly communicating our personal brand, and doing so in an authentic way?
• Is a personal brand something fixed or does it evolve?
• If you’d like to re-look at your personal brand or start working on it, what 3 steps should you take?

Darren shares openly and with personal insight his own learning journey when reflecting on, enhancing and becoming more confident in what his values are and how he would like to show up and communicate his personal brand.

We hope this episode inspires you to either get started or have a re-look at your personal brand and perhaps seek some feedback from others. 

Connect with Darren:

LinkedIn

Recommended Resource:

Reinventing You by Dorie Clark

Connect with Lisa:

LinkedIn

Email: [email protected]

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@sixcommsconversations2025

Support the show

Download our 6Cs Guide to a Thriving Communicator and you will receive our monthly newsletter!

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Yes, a lot of us have returned to our offices and are working more in-person.  However, there is still a lingering impact, from Covid times when we were forced to work exclusively online, on how well we communicate with each other in order to better connect rather than just to get work done.

This connection can't be left to chance; it needs to be designed.  But, everyone is so time poor these days!  So how can we ensure that space is designed for meaningful connection between colleagues?  The answer lies in designing purposeful rituals!

Alison and I discuss these questions:

• What are workplace rituals?
• What are the benefits of establishing them?
• What are some examples?
• What are the pitfalls we should be aware of?

This podcast episode is for you if you manage or lead teams and are struggling to connect in a consistent and dynamic way.  It could be that you need to establish some rituals.  It might be as simple as a check-in at the beginning of your meetings or a ritual at a kick-off meeting to a project, or an update meeting. Whatever ritual you design, you need it to be crafted collaboratively so that everyone buys in to it and it can sustain some momentum.

Alison says: “the process of behavior change is challenging, so start small.  Don't give yourself too much to do as a team initially because you'll just get burnt out! So start small. And some small steps taken consistently will lead to that progress.”

Connect with Alison:

LinkedIn

Website: http://www.bracketcreative.co.uk/

Recommended Resources:

http://www.bracketcreative.co.uk/book

Article: Using purposeful workplace rituals to build better teams

Alison mentioned this website for check-in questions you can use at the start of team meetings: https://checkin.daresay.io/

Connect with Lisa:

LinkedIn

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.sixcomms.org/

YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@sixcommsconversations2025

Support the show

Download our 6Cs Guide to a Thriving Communicator and you will receive our monthly newsletter!

Send us Fan Mail

One of the Six Cs of Effective Communication that SIXCOMMS promotes is Compassion. In order to communicate in a compassionate way with others, we first need to communicate in a compassionate way with ourselves; we need to be self-compassionate.  This episode focuses on the benefits of self-compassion not just for our own well being but how that positively translates to our relationships with others and how that impacts how we contribute at work.

I will be asking Dr Maike:

• what being self-compassionate is not
• what we say to ourselves and how we feel when we are being self-compassionate
• the benefits of self-compassion, particularly in how we communicate with others
• how self-compassion impacts our relationships at the workplace
• what practical tips she can share on how we can become more self-compassionate

I think we all struggle with that annoying self-critic at one time or another, I know I certainly do!  And the constant “I should have…” phrases we tell ourselves. For example, “I should have got that,” “I should have done that presentation better.”  Sound familiar?

This episode is for you if you want to understand more on the topic of self-compassion particularly how self-compassion acts as a catalyst in moving you away from feeling stressed and negative to getting you into a positive emotional state.

When you are in this place, you can become more creative, more innovative, more playful, more curious and experimental.  You can communicate more compassionately and have more flourishing relationships.

If you are leading or managing a team and you are being kind to yourself (being self-compassionate), you are granting other people more autonomy and freedom and that  builds trust and motivation. You allow others to make mistakes and are more forgiving, alleviating the pressure on individuals to always perform perfectly.

Connect with Dr. Maike Neuhaus:

Websites:

Ducidium Pty Ltd: ducidium.com

The Flourishing Doc: theflourishingdoc.com

LinkedIn

Instagram

Facebook

Recommended Resource:

Kristin Neff 'Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself'

Connect with Lisa:

LinkedIn

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.sixcomms.org/

YuTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@sixcommsconversations2025

Support the show

Download our 6Cs Guide to a Thriving Communicator and you will receive our monthly newsletter!

Send us Fan Mail

This is a perfect title for this episode as the way in which Kate and I first met was both creative and intentional.  It involved a networking platform called LunchClub and some Lego, more will be revealed about this in our conversation!

This episode is for you if you host online & in-person meetings and would like some inspiration on how you can connect with your colleagues in more creative ways.  Perhaps, you’re a manager who would like your team to have fun whilst playing and building deeper connections with each other.

It’s also for you if you would like to try out some new ways of introducing yourself and getting to know others at a networking event.  If you’re getting tired of your elevator pitch, then this episode will inspire you to experiment and make you stand out from the crowd!

Connect with Dr. Kate Raynes-Goldie

The creator of The SUPERCONNECT®Method:

LinkedIn

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://kateraynesgoldie.com/

Connect with Lisa:

LinkedIn

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.sixcomms.org/

Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@sixcommsconversations2025

Support the show

Download our 6Cs Guide to a Thriving Communicator and you will receive our monthly newsletter!

Send us Fan Mail

Anita and I both feel that communicating with compassion and care has always been important, but never more so than now.  Communicating across cultures, across generations and tailoring our communication to suit different communication styles has always been challenging.  However, with the pandemic we have had to orientate ourselves to very different ways of working with added health issues so it is even more challenging now.

We explore what it means to communicate in a compassionate way with care, what it looks like in action, how the way we work now has had an impact, what it means to be professional as many of us continue to work from home and what boundaries there might be that we should consider.  If we want to communicate with more care and compassion, what might we need to keep in mind.

We are not experts in compassion, but we know it is essential to be effective communicators.  We hope this conversation will prompt further discussion.  So, if this topic resonates with you, please get in touch with us with your thoughts, ideas and questions. And, if there are any resources that have been helpful to you  in this area, then please share them with us. Here's to learning and growing our communication skills together!

Resources: 

Anita's Book: A Cup of Kindness - invites readers into a reflective, sometimes raw, and always real exploration of what happens when kindness is present, and what unfolds when it is not. 

Kinokuniya: https://kinokuniya.com.sg/products/9789815362480

Popular: https://popular.com.sg/products/a-cup-of-kindness-paperback

Connect with Anita:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anitastephen-culture/

Email: [email protected] 

Connect with Lisa:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisasing/

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.sixcomms.org/

Support the show

Download our 6Cs Guide to a Thriving Communicator and you will receive our monthly newsletter!

Send us Fan Mail

This episode is for you if you work with a lot of data and have to regularly present that data to your team and stakeholders.  You might be getting demotivated as you feel the content is just not engaging your audience and you just want to breathe some life into it and get your audience to pay attention!

I’ll be asking Thomas:

• what are the crucial elements of an engaging and memorable data presentation?
• what key questions should you ask when analysing your audience? 
• how do you decide which type of graph to use to be most impactful? 
• is presenting data as a story a good strategy? And, how should you structure such a story?

Connect with Thomas:

LinkedIn

Email: [email protected]

Website: presentationboss.com.au

Thomas recommends:

Ted Talk: Hans Rosling

Ted Talk: Joe Smith

Connect with Lisa:

LinkedIn

Email: [email protected]

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@sixcommsconversations2025

Support the show

Download our 6Cs Guide to a Thriving Communicator and you will receive our monthly newsletter!

Send us Fan Mail

This is part 2 of Episode 20. A time to pause & reflect on the episodes so far. A special episode because it was created by the past guests and listeners of the show sharing their favourite episodes & key learning. So if you haven't had a chance to listen to The SIXCOMMS Podcast yet, this is a good place to start as one of the episodes that has resonated most with our listeners may well ignite a light bulb in you! You will hear from a wonderful group of professionals all of whom have inspired me as I explore this multi layered, often challenging, but fascinating way in which we are all trying to communicate more effectively in the workplace now!

Let me know which episode is your favourite and why!  Email me at: [email protected] Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/lisa-partridge5/message

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@sixcommsconversations2025

Support the show

Download our 6Cs Guide to a Thriving Communicator and you will receive our monthly newsletter!

Send us Fan Mail

This is part 1 of Episode 20. A time to pause & reflect on the episodes so far. A special episode because it was created by the past guests and listeners of the show sharing their favourite episodes & key learnings. So if you haven't had a chance to listen to The SIXCOMMS Podcast yet, this is a good place to start as one of the episodes that has resonated most with our listeners may well ignite a lightbulb in you! You will hear from a wonderful group of professionals all of whom have inspired me as I explore this multi layered, often challenging, but fascinating way in which we are all trying to communicate more effectively in the workplace now! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/lisa-partridge5/message\

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@sixcommsconversations2025

Support the show

Download our 6Cs Guide to a Thriving Communicator and you will receive our monthly newsletter!

Send us Fan Mail

I’m joined by Arunanjali Maria, a business storytelling coach.  She helps leaders use the organic power of stories to drive business results and bring humanity to the workplace.

She has over 25 years of experience as a powerful facilitator in designing and delivering Capability Enhancement solutions. Her forte is providing Learning Solutions that match her client’s needs and participant’s preferences. Arunanjali’s mission is to inspire people to unleash their full potential, through impactful facilitation and powerful coaching.

She has coached clients across geographies and cultures as an Executive and Life Coach. Closely working with Women Leaders and the Start up community as a Mentor to empower and build skills to grow and succeed.

And if that’s not enough, I would add that she is a charismatic and highly skilled storyteller as you will discover in this episode.  Arunanjali doesn’t just talk about the theory of storytelling, she demonstrates it by sharing her stories with us.

We explore:

• what business storytelling is
• the elements that make a good story within a business context
• the practical tips that will help you to develop your storytelling skills

I really like how Arunanjali describes storytelling as “the new verbal cue of connecting.”  I think many of us feel that to be a good storyteller you have to be really creative and have extraordinary things to share, but as Arunanjali points out it is in the everyday experiences that we can find our most relatable and impactful stories.  And in business it is about connecting those experiences to a clear business purpose.

Connect with Arunanjali:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arunanjali-maria-6ab18b5/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArunanjaliMaria

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://www.tvamevasolutions.com/

Connect with Lisa:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisasing

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@sixcommsconversations2025

Support the show

Download our 6Cs Guide to a Thriving Communicator and you will receive our monthly newsletter!

Send us Fan Mail

I’m joined by Shanthi Cumaraswamy Streat who is a Business English and Communications Coach.  Shanthi helps senior business professionals become their confident selves when communicating in English at work.

She believes that instead of learning even more words, perfecting your grammar or trying to speak without pausing (is that even possible!?), you can communicate more effectively and confidently with the English you already have.

Before becoming a language coach, Shanthi spent 20 years in the corporate world of finance and was surprised to see that the coursebooks used in Business English classrooms were so far removed from her clients’ day-to-day experiences.

That’s why she developed her own signature approach to teaching effective communication in business English which she uses to help her clients feel comfortable and confident to apply for those senior positions, participate in meetings, present to key stakeholders and showcase their expertise.

Our conversation focuses around 3 key questions:

Firstly, what does it mean to communicate confidently and credibly?

Secondly, we discuss what the main challenges are for professionals speaking English as a foreign language in terms of their confidence and credibility?  

And finally, Shanthi shares how you can develop your confidence in communicating at work with some practical tips, so please stay until the end.

Through this episode it’s clear that the responsibility of communication should not be left to just one person.  Shanthi and I believe it is a joint responsibility shared by the listener and speaker regardless of the level of English language spoken.

Resources to explore:

Articles

Persuasive Communication

Empathy is the most important leadership skill

On Psychological Safety for Non-native speakers.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenmenabney/2021/03/09/how-native-english-speakers-can-create-more-inclusive-global-teams/?sh=1183d2f4ad96

How native speakers can create more inclusive global teams

3 Tips for presenting in English when you’re a non-native speaker

Book

Tips of the Tongue - Top tips for NNS

Connect with Shanthi:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanthicumaraswamystreat/

Email: [email protected]

Website: englishwithatwist.com

Connect with Lisa:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisasing/

Email the host:

Lisa: [email protected]

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@sixcommsconversations2025

Support the show

Download our 6Cs Guide to a Thriving Communicator and you will receive our monthly newsletter!