 This video I'd like to talk about what it means to communicate presence at work and communicate a professional presence at work Really communicating professional presence in most ways comes down to perception What is the perception that you would like people to have of you that you work with and what is the perception that you have of them? And how you communicate with them. So it really comes down to perception. Who are you who you're trying to be who you're trying to Present and who with whom are you communicating? So when it comes out of communicating presence, just want to convey a few thoughts to you first It's important to know your audience. Who is it that you're communicating with? Is this somebody you've worked with for many many years and have a you know a reasonably Solid relationship with and know them fairly fairly well And they know you fairly well, or is this somebody who's new? Is this somebody who works in a different department that doesn't know you very well? Is this your supervisor? Is this somebody from the leadership of the organization or is this an external client? External customer or some sort of external stakeholder all of those things matter and how you communicate with them and and just knowing What is and what you know may not be as appropriate what you know? Would it would not be appropriate in that situation with that particular? Person that's gonna vary from person to person What the answer is then is this appropriate? That depends on who it is and who you are and so forth. So know your audience know who you're communicating with Lean toward formality That's right lean toward formality If you especially if you're uncertain in a situation, it's best to be formal if you don't know that person very well It's best to be more formal with them and not to take a chance Even if it's somebody that you think you know pretty well It's best to err on the side of formality. You don't want to Make a mistake and step over that line and and find yourself in a difficult position then so it's best to lean toward formality and Keep in mind the larger the group as well the more formalities gonna be involved because the larger the group the more likely it is there are people in there who don't know you very Well, and so you want to lean toward formality when you're dealing with a larger group setting Even if there are a couple of closer colleagues as a part of that group I need to consider the entirety of the group Also want to listen well, this is one of the most underrated skills in personal lives and professional lives We need to listen first and and not just in a sense of let me wait my turn to talk Politely wait politely until that person is done speaking so that I can now we need to be listening actively listening to that person so that we can understand so that we can recall that information so that we can then Respond effectively based on what that person has said we need to make an effort and renew our efforts to listen well We want to be aware of our nonverbals People pay attention our nonverbals even when we're not the focus of that that conversation Even when we're not the speaker people are paying attention to our nonverbal behavior So we want to be aware of what our facial expressions are what are you know what our gestures are what we're doing with our hands What our posture is what our appearance is so we would just want to be aware and in control of those nonverbals as much as possible Want to consider the channel? What's the best way for me to communicate this message? It's not always going to be emails not always going to be face-to-face You know is this something that can be done via an instant message or text message? Possibly possibly if it's important though if it's something that has a you know time Sensitivity issue then then we may need to do that face-to-face or at least over the phone So we can get an immediate answer in real time if we send an email send a text message Those are asynchronous that may not get there You know may not be read in that exact moment and we may not get as quick a response as we want But if it's something detailed detailed instructions things that we want people to be able to refer to in the future Or something that we want a communication trail Related to that and so we can demonstrate that we did talk about this We did share this information then potentially an email or instant message something that that keeps a record of that would be a good idea So we need to think about the channel We also need to think about the channel in terms of how we're communicating as we're going to talk about in the next one Because you know oftentimes an email and instant message we have a tendency to get a little too informal as well So with that in mind we need to remember to write like an adult when we're in a business setting We're in a professional setting we need to write like an adult It's not the time for using you know text-based contractions like using the letters you and are for your that sends a terrible message We want to use full sentences with capitalization and punctuation and and using our best writing skills Even if it's just an email to a colleague, this is something first of all that's going to send a message about us They're gonna draw conclusions about our competence and our preparedness from these types of things It's also something that stands as a permanent record in a sense that people will refer to and could could be passed around or so For it so we want to send an email that sends the best message about us and paints us in the best possible light so Useful sentences use good grammar use your best writing use Don't use contractions don't use Text-based language save that for your your personal communications when you're at work Right like an adult right like a professional because it's going to send a message about you Whatever we're doing however, we're communicating we need to be mindful of the fact that it goes to our presence that it communicates something about us that people draw conclusions from this and And so we want to put our best foot forward when we're communicating at all times If you have any questions about how to communicate presence or you know What's an effective way to communicate presence feel free to email me and be happy to chat with you and respond via email and share ideas So in the meantime again be thoughtful be intentional about the way that you're communicating in the workplace Because people will see that as an extension of you and we want to put Ourselves in the best possible light and put our best foot forward