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Tuesday 20 September 2016

Outstanding communication, especially WHEN IT COUNTS

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Have you ever been on a workshop that you knew would change your life? Then, put your notes in your desk drawer…

… only to forget all about them, finding them by accident a few months later?

The trouble with wanting to change how you act in certain situations is that, next time the situation arises, you might forget what you’d planned to change.

And this isn’t our fault. After all, there isn’t much we can do if it doesn’t enter our head when it matters.

Well, actually that’s wrong.

It is our fault. We should have remembered. And the only way to remember when it counts, is to have a reminder when it counts.

For example, let’s say you want to remember to include Calls To Action at the end of your emails. That means you’ll need to remember when it matters – in other words, every time you’re emailing.

This means you need a reminder every time you’re sending an email.

The solution? Change your email autosignature. After all, you see it every time you send an email. It makes it impossible for you to forget. So now, instead of it saying “Cheers, James”, it now says “Our actions: XXX. Cheers, James”. Your reminder is now front-of-mind, because it’s front-of-face.

See how it works? All I did is ask myself “what am I looking at every time I do this thing I want to change?”; and then put my reminder there.

Other examples:

  • Want to smile more when you’re making presentations? Well, your eyes will be looking at your presenter notes. So write the word “smile” all over them 
  • Fed up with attending boring meetings that don’t have a desired outcome? Change your standard meeting agenda templates – insert a box at the top, containing the heading “Desired outcomes”. Next time you print the agenda, you can’t miss it 
  • Want to remember to cover a few key points in a meeting? Get the thing you’ll be making your notes on during the meeting – your pad, iPad, etc – and write a reminder on there. The other person won’t mind. And you won’t forget 
  • Got in the bad habit of turning up to meetings unprepared? Put a recurring calendar reminder every Friday morning – “Preview next week’s meetings – for the ones I need to go to, do the prep now. For the ones I don’t, decline now” (this is always a popular tip!) 

This Tip is a good one. It’ll help you improve; and without effort. In fact, I bet you’ll remember it for a few minutes.

But will you remember it when it counts?

Action Point


  1. Identify one improvement you want to make (for example, to your emails) 
  2. Think what you’re looking at when you do this thing (your email autosignature) 
  3. Put a reminder there so you always remember when it counts

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Native English Spain is dedicated to make learning English simple, fun and affordable for Spanish people.

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