Social media-raised youth can be better communicators

A significant challenge facing younger leaders is the shift to a more formal communication style.  We know that millennials have spent most of their adult lives on social media, which usually translates to informal, emoji-filled missives.  What would happen once they’d have to discipline members of their team, or worse, fire an employee? Somehow, a text or chat message would seem inappropriate.

We asked Ruel de Vera, a Palanca award-winning writer and college professor, for tips and insights on how millennials can improve on this aspect.

1) Seek to be understood. Good communication skills are second only to vision when it comes to being a leader. Before you can impress or inspire, you must be understood. You cannot ask people to follow you when they do not know what you stand for, what you plan to do and how you plan to do it.

2) Adopt a mode of communication that suits your audience. A leader must determine what manner or style is required to properly communicate with those they intend to lead. Some followers require unambiguous instructions laid out in print all at once, while others require counseling through continuous communication.

3) Maintain a formal tone, even on chat apps. Messaging apps are perceived as informal, but they can be as formal as you want them to be. The important thing is to maintain a formal tone, remembering to use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.

The Inquirer Academy is offering a workshop entitled “Grammar Review and Business Writing” on Dec. 4, 2017 to be facilitated by De Vera. It is designed for accountants who want to improve their grammar and business writing skills.

There will also be a workshop entitled “Effective Writing: Writing with Impact” on Dec. 5-6, 2017.

One of the topics  is improving sentence and paragraph construction to ensure clarity and conciseness.

The Inquirer Academy is at 4168 Don Chino Roces Ave. corner Ponte St., Makati City. For more information, you may e-mail [email protected], call (632) 834-1557 or 800-8110 and look for Jerald Miguel or Judy Bondoc, or visit the website at www.inquireracademy.com.