Before getting into how to improve your communication/speaking skills, why bother? Well, communication and speaking is what is called a meta skill, meaning that yes it is a skill on its own, but it also impacts most of your other skills. If you have a Youtube channel, a course, make cold calls, sales calls, communicate with your family, communicate with your spouse/partner, it will amplifies all these parts of your life and more. It will help you no longer become an introvert, and live the life you want to the fullest. In my last post, I talked about the golden rule of communication, which answered the question, How do I know if something is wrong with my communication (you can find it here). Now I will go over the process and the actionable steps you can take to improve your communication skills. Aim to do this once a week for the best results. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It is called Record and Review: You want to record a 5 minute video of you speaking (the video will also be recording you and your body to see what your body language is like.) If you're wondering what to speak about, it doesn’t matter. Find something you like or enjoy, and if you are still stuck, go on google and get the most commonly asked question in job interviews. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After you record, wait 24 hours, and then move on to step 2, review. Review has 3 parts to it. 1. Visual Review: the first step to reviewing is to watch your video without sound, and see if there is anything distracting. Analyze and write down what is done right, what is done wrong, and how you can improve. Are you fidgeting, cracking your knuckles, have your hands in your pockets. Use the golden rule to guide your review.

How to know if something in your communication is a problem? Here is the answer: If it distracts people from the message, then it is a problem If you have lots of umms, ahhs, as well as a bunch of likes, and filler words that you use, and it is distracting, then it is a problem. If you say the occasional like, umm and ahh, it probably isn’t the end of the world. If you have a different accent, as long as it is not distracting it is ok. If you are doing movements with your hands and your body which are a distraction for people, then you need to stop doing those things, but if it helps to convey your message, then it is good. Strategy to find the distraction: Record yourself when you are speaking, and look out for the most distracting part. It will probably pop out right in front of you. Then figure out a way to tackle that situation. Dealing with umms, ahhs and likes: You want to be aware of your speech, and you are about to use a filler, don’t, and simply be silent and pause for a few seconds. It will sound much better, and overtime you will become better and better.

For all the ad men out there, I am curious what you think. I assuming your audience is not gen z/don't have tiktok brain, do you think having flashy edits and pop ups are the better, or having a more authentic approach which is more raw and authentic. Of course I know it would differ from market to market, and the only to truly know is to test it, but I want to know what you guys think is best