At its core, business communications is simply about expressing information to someone else at work. The problem of course is that it rarely seems simple when we need to do it. We often default to what we have been doing for a while even if those habits do not produce the results we want.
Here is a round-up of three books to check out to learn some new ideas and tips so you can feel more confident getting your ideas across at work.
Book Recommendations for Business Communications
The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam (Penguin Group)
If you can draw simple shapes, you can draw pictures to help express your ideas and connect with your audiences in business. This book has a wealth of inspiration and ideas for how to do it well to discover, develop and sell ideas. One of the reasons I love this book so much is that the ideas here are effective if you are talking with someone one-on-one or in a group setting and also bring a fresh approach to communication. I really recommend this book – as well as the follow up book by Dan Roam called Unfolding the Napkin: The Hands-On Method for Solving Complex Problems with Simple Pictures – for anyone who wants to distinguish themselves at their next meeting or presentation. Communicating with visuals, especially drawings, can be an interesting approach to try out.
10 Simple Secrets of the World’s Greatest Business Communicators by Carmine Gallo (Sourcebooks)
This one is a little older but still a title I still reference often for its great tips and examples from different business leaders. The content is organized around 10 different “secrets” or traits of good communicators, like showing passion, starting out strong, and commanding presence. Each chapter features lots of great insights and practical advice. The book is also well-written by a great storyteller that can be an example on how to break down content into sections and highlighting different points.
Supercommunicator: Explaining the Complicated So Anyone Can Understand by Frank Pietrucha (AMACOM)
In this guide to communicating big ideas, the author shares a ton of great advice to embrace technology and modern communication tools like infographics and videos while keeping the human element intact so we connect with our audiences. This book has a lot of great ideas for getting our audiences to care and developing content that makes connections, as well as tips for making the most of case studies, testimonials, and more.
Take Action
Pick up a title at your library or favorite bookstore and read one chapter this week. Pick out one idea from it that you can try out at work. It can also be helpful to try to teach a concept to someone else to help you learn it so consider passing along a tip you learn to a friend or coworker.
