Communicate with Mastery

Develop your leadership communication

Communicating with Mastery provides readers with a rich treasure trove of frameworks and tools for leadership communication as developed and taught over the past decade at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. Designed for the business leader on the go, it provides you quick access to helpful approaches to vexing communication problems leaders face today in speaking and writing to various audiences.

Projects often fail not because of the vision, but in the articulation of that vision. With the help of this book, you’ll learn how to ensure you get the results you desire as a leader and communicator including:

• Speak with conviction and write with impact
• Tailor your communication to any goal, setting, or audience
• Scale your leadership through effective coaching

Every time you write or speak, you need to make your words count. And this book shows you how.

Foreword xi

Introduction xiii

Individuality xvi

Relevance xvi

Iteration xvii

Feedback xviii

Stakes xviii

Part 1 Speaking with Conviction and Writing for Impact 1

1 Adopting a Communication Mindset 3

Know Your AIM 3

Beyond AIM: The Leadership Communication Canvas 14

2 Speaking with Conviction 25

Managing Your Anxiety 26

Verbal, Vocal, Visual: Your Recipe for Successful Communication 29

3 Writing for Impact: Active, Brief, and Clear 45

Active 46

Brief 47

Clear 48

Synthesis > Summary 48

The Yin and Yang of Writing: Style and Content 50

The Power of Editing (Others’ Work and Your Own) 53

Part 2 Tailoring Your Communication to Goal, Setting, or Identity 57

4 Tailoring Your Communication to Your Goal 59

Pitching 59

Storytelling 69

Disclosing Personally 82

5 Tailoring Your Communication to Your Setting 91

Meetings 91

Virtual Meetings 97

On Stage (TED Talks, LOWKeynotes, and the Like) 99

When Co-Presenting 101

When Fielding Questions 103

When Using Slides 107

6 Tailoring Your Communication to Your Identity 111

Leading in Your Second (or Third, or Fourth) Language 112

Leading as an LGBTQ Person 113

Leading as a Woman 123

Leading as a Rookie 129

Leading as a Military Veteran 131

Part 3 Scaling Your Leadership: The Communication Coaching Process 139

7 When Being Coached 141

Establishing Your Goals 141

Selecting Your Coach 143

Adopting a Coaching Mindset 145

8 When Coaching Others 147

What Makes a Great Coach? 147

Defining the Coaching Role 149

Tools of the Trade 150

9 Creating a Coaching Culture 157

Everyone Can Coach (But Not Everyone Should) 157

Embracing Radical Candor 159

Mirroring and Modeling Best Practices 163

Epilogue: It’s in Your Hands Now 165

Appendix A: Power Verbs 169

Appendix B: Memo on the Quality of Memos 173

Appendix C: More Tips on Winning Writing from Glenn Kramon 179

Appendix D: The Leadership Communication Bookshelf 183

Bibliography 187

Acknowledgments 191

About the Authors 195

Index 197

JD Schramm founded the Mastery in Communication Initiative at Stanford's Graduate School of Business, where he's served as lecturer in Organizational Behavior since 2007.

Kara Levy is an executive communication and leadership coach who's offered thousands the tools to communicate more confidently. She holds an MFA in fiction writing from Columbia University.

To be a leader in today's world and influence others with your ideas, you'll need to share your ideas clearly, powerfully, and memorably. No matter how talented and knowledgeable you are, you can't succeed as a leader if you lack the ability to communicate with clarity and conviction.

By sharing leadership communication frameworks and tools that have been taught at Stanford's Graduate School of Business over the past decade, Communicate with Mastery will help readers develop that essential strength. This book describes how anyone can become an influential speaker, a compelling writer, and a more effective communicator.

Communicate with Mastery is an efficient, actionable resource that helps readers learn how to better deliver presentations, motivate teams, draft clear and concise e-mails, and more. The tools in this book will help readers to navigate our increasingly digital, fast-paced world with a diverse set of approaches to our multifaceted communication landscape.

This essential leadership communication book provides quick and easy access to approaches you can leverage in any situation where effective communication is necessary. In the short term, you'll find it easier to get your point across regardless of medium or situation. In the long run, Communicate with Mastery will help you address the pain points that may be preventing you from achieving major goals as a leader.

Projects often fail despite having immense potential. Why? Simply because a leader wasn't able to articulate a vision. Don't let your good ideas fall flat. Strong communication is key to your success. This book teaches you how to master it.

PRAISE FOR COMMUNICATE with MASTERY

"JD offers actionable advice for senior leaders committed to effective communication. This quick read will teach you the easy way (by reading) what most leaders have had to learn the hard way (by screwing up!) Save yourself some time and heartache and read this book!" KIM SCOTT, Author of Radical Candor

"JD has taught thousands of Stanford students to be effective, and even masterful, communicators. His insights and guidance will benefit any leader who takes the time to put them into action." JONATHAN LEVIN, Philip H. Knight, Professor and Dean, Stanford Graduate School of Business

"For years, I've watched the courses and programs JD Schramm has created at Stanford wishing his work could be made available to a wider audience, now it has. Communicate with Mastery provides leaders at all levels of experience and confidence the tools they need to improve their speaking and writing. It's a welcome addition to the field." NANCY DUARTE, CEO, Duarte Inc.; Author of lide:ology, Resonate, and Illuminate

"Storytelling has been the secret ingredient to the success in my career. This book distills all JD shared with me when I was his student at Stanford, in a powerful, approachable instruction manual." KYLAN LUNDEEN, Chief Marketing Officer, Qualtrics