Brittanie Steele, the BYUSA Executive Vice President, spoke to us last week about communication; being a communications major, I found many of her ideas really interesting.  I could tell that she was an excellent communicator herself, so I enjoyed not only listening to the message she brought us, but watching how she conveyed it to us. 

      One of the most memorable parts of her lecture was when she demonstrated the concept of innovation in our communication.  She had a volunteer come up, and she instructed him to take a can of beans, place his finger on the edge of the table, and smash the can down onto his hand as hard as he could.  She assured him that if he made sure that the exact middle of the can hit his finger, the can would be dented but it wouldn’t hurt his finger at all; she told us she had tried it the night before.  He was hesitant and refused to try it, even with her persuasive words.  After he sat down, she put her finger on the table and slammed the can onto it with a loud “BANG!”  Our jaws all dropped in shock, but the can was indeed dented and her finger unharmed.  “You’ll never forget that communication is hard”, she told us.  This was her example of innovative communication, and it is one I won’t easily forget.

She outlined for us seven characteristics of great communicators:

• Build integrity and trust
• Involve others
• Translate messages to fit your audience
• Take initiative
• Analytical skills
• Innovation
• Positive optimism 

      Since the lecture last Wednesday, I’ve been looking for ways to apply these strategies in my everyday life.  I'm in the Relief Society presidency in my ward, and as part of this calling, I am over the teachers.  After attending stake leadership training on Sunday morning and collaborating with the rest of the presidency, I came up with a whole list of things I needed to communicate to my teachers.  It included instructions for guiding discussions effectively and keeping comments on topic, using positive reinforcement to encourage participation, coordinating with the other teachers, teaching through the Spirit, and a number of other topics.  I realized that not only was I teaching them how to communicate more effectively with the class, but that it was also important that I improve my communication with them.  So I held a meeting with the three of them that night, sought their input, and tried to use positive reinforcement by pointing out what they had done well at in the first lessons they’d taught.  After they left, I created a Google Doc that included everything I’d taught them and allowed them to post their comments and ideas.  I think that through using Brittanie’s seven strategies, I will be able to enhance the teaching within our Relief Society and hopefully help build the girls’ testimonies as a consequence.

      In my communications major, I will be dealing primarily with mass communication rather than interpersonal communication; however, these same approaches to communication will still apply.  I’m interested in advertising, and one of the main goals is to creatively convey your message in a way that your audience will notice and remember.  You also need to gain credibility and trust with your customers, involve your audience by appealing to their senses, and analyze who your audience is and determine how to best fit connect with them. Even though the dynamics in mass communication are a lot different, these goals all go right along with what Brittanie taught us.

      Communication is critical to every aspect of our lives—strong communication skills will bring us success in a variety of venues and enhance our relationships with others.  We need to communicate “powerfully and prolifically” in our leadership positions and church callings, our majors, our families, our sports teams, and even just with our friends and roommates.  I have really put a lot of thought into Brittany’s seven tips, and I’m eager to put them all into practice and improve the way I communicate.