Top Communication Strategies Every Technical Leader in AEC Must Know!

Key Concepts

• Speaking as a habit, not a natural talent
• Importance of self-reflection and feedback
• Audience awareness and tailoring communication
• Low-stakes vs. high-stakes practice environments
• Addressing "shaded habits" in communication
• Social contract for giving feedback
• Replacing filler words with strategic pauses
• Team cohesion in presentations and pitches
• Storytelling as a key element in technical communication
• Addressing emotional responses in client conversations

What Makes a Great Speaker

• Speaking is a Habit: Great speakers aren't born; they are made through consistent practice and refinement.
  • "Any speaker needs to understand that speaking is habitual, not natural. That they don't just wake up one day and they're a great speaker. That it takes practice."
• Self-Reflection and Feedback: Listening to yourself and identifying areas for improvement is crucial.
  • Utilize recordings (voice memos, Zoom calls) to analyze your speaking style.
  • Be willing to be vulnerable and identify areas for improvement.
• Audience Awareness: Tailor your communication to the audience's level of technical expertise and their specific needs.
  • Avoid talking "too high above them or too far below them."
  • Align content with the audience's question or the question you need them to have.
• Knowing the Question: Understand the question the audience has or the question you need them to have.
  • Align content and storytelling with the audience's needs.
  • Share only the information that is most relevant to the audience.

Developing Communication Skills in Teams

• Low-Stakes Practice: Create opportunities for team members to practice in environments where the consequences are minimal.
  • Examples: Three-minute updates in staff meetings, simulations of client interactions.
  • "Creating some low stakes very simple what I would call formative assessment opportunities."
• Explicit vs. Implicit Learning: Don't assume team members understand communication skills implicitly. Make expectations and processes explicit.
  • Provide clear guidelines on time limits, practice methods, and client preferences.
  • "Don't just assume that the implicit is is understood that make things explicit."
• Addressing "Shaded Habits": Correct minor communication flaws (e.g., filler words) in low-stakes settings to prevent them from becoming problematic in high-stakes situations.
  • "Avoiding or ignoring seeing those small bits in those low stakes moments are also important to catch and say let's let's work on that before it matters."
• Social Contract for Feedback: Establish an understanding that feedback is intended to help team members develop and is not a personal attack.
  • "Make sure the social contract exists before the feedback comes."
• Replacing Filler Words: Provide specific strategies for replacing filler words, such as taking a breath.
  • "The best way to replace one of those filler words is to practice taking a breath."
  • Encourage others to do so.

Presenting with Clarity and Cohesion

• Team Pitches: Squat Meets Sprint: Team presentations require both strength (deep knowledge) and speed (concise delivery).
  • Ensure team members have presentation skills.
  • Clearly define the rules of engagement, especially time limits.
• Avoiding Common Mistakes:
  • Underestimating how long things take.
  • Overdoing slides and content.
  • Reading slides.
  • Not reading the room.
• Reading the Room: Pay attention to audience cues (disengagement, confusion) and adjust your presentation accordingly.
  • "It's clear we're not answering your question."
  • Redirect and recognize when things have gotten off track.
• The Rep: Practice as a team to prepare and have a better chance of winning.
• Message Discipline: Stay inside what you want to say.

Handling Difficult Client Conversations

• Bottom Line First: In difficult situations, start with the bottom line and then listen to the client's emotional response.
  • "Go in with the bottom line which was still kind of difficult news but then they just be quiet stop talking and listen to the emotion of the client and that's the job."
• Addressing Emotions: Acknowledge the client's frustration and allow them to express their feelings.
  • "Let them talk it out. Let them share how frustrated they are. Don't try to solve it. Don't try to redirect them. Just embrace it and acknowledge, I understand this is frustrating."
• Anticipate and Address the "Elephant in the Room": Identify the client's primary concern (budget, timeline, quality, safety) and address it directly.
  • "Get the most important thing done the big elephant in the room needs to be addressed first because if the elephant isn't addressed and they're just going to keep thinking about the elephant."
• Manage Your Own Emotional Response: Be aware of your own stress response and avoid becoming defensive or accusatory.
  • "Watch your own emotional response and your own stress response to not become over talkative, to not get defensive, to not be accusatory."
• Grounding Techniques: Use techniques like deep breathing, body awareness, or mantras to stay grounded and centered.
  • "Your brain, your breath, or your body. Those are three really productive ways to get yourself more grounded and centered for those difficult conversations."

The Power of Storytelling

• Aristotle's Rhetorical Triangle: Ethos (credibility), Logos (logic), and Pathos (emotion). Storytelling is the key to unlocking Pathos.
  • "The only way we get that third rung is through storytelling."
• Stories Don't Have to Be Long: Stories can be metaphors, analogies, or quick anecdotes.
  • "Stories don't have to be long. Stories can be metaphors. Stories can be analogy. Stories can be very quick hits."
• Integrating Storytelling: Rearrange existing content to highlight relevant stories and connect with the audience on an emotional level.
  • "Sometimes it's sitting right in front of you and it's just a rearranging."
• Brain Connection: The brain needs both data and emotional resonance. Storytelling provides the emotional connection that data alone cannot.
  • "The brain actually definitely needs to draw out something resonating and emotional."

Final Advice

• Focus on One Habit: Identify one communication habit that is holding you back and work to improve it.
  • "Take stock of your one habit that you have that's holding you back."
• Small Steps: Improvement doesn't have to be a massive undertaking. Start small and build momentum.
  • "This doesn't have to be Mount Everest. this can just be the the local, you know, state park where you just start off small and build some muscles that you may not have experienced before."
• Practice: Patterning off of other people is one way to start, but it doesn't actually change your own habits.
  • "Just watching other people talk is is a good way to say I'd like to be better like that person, but don't think that person is natural. That person has been practicing their habits, too."

Conclusion

Effective communication is a learned skill that requires consistent practice, self-reflection, and a focus on the audience's needs. By creating low-stakes practice environments, addressing "shaded habits," and incorporating storytelling, AEC leaders can empower their teams to communicate with clarity, confidence, and impact. Addressing emotional responses in client conversations and focusing on one habit at a time can lead to significant improvements in communication skills.