Fraud Blocker Interpersonal Communication Skills Can Impact Your Career

How Are Your Interpersonal Communication Skills Limiting Your Career?

If you aspire to senior management and executive roles, the level of your interpersonal communication skills is crucial. Whether you’re leading a team, negotiating deals, or presenting strategies, your ability to communicate clearly and assertively can make or break your success.

Despite your industry experience and expertise, you might be struggling with pain points that are limiting your executive presence. It can be frustrating and damaging to your confidence too, as this as an obstacle to your career progression.

This article delves into the most common pain points I encounter in my work as an executive communication coach, and what you could possibly do to overcome them.

Most Common Pain Points in Interpersonal Communication Skills

your level of communication & confidence affects your visibility at the workplace

① You have something good to share, but you keep quiet instead of speaking up.

② You need to repeat yourself a few times before your listener understands you.

③ You overthink or people-please.

④ You struggle with your words and sentences, even though you have no speech impediments.

⑤ You want to be more assertive, but fear offending others.

⑥ You try to cut short conversations & disengage as quickly as possible.

These are the some of the most common pain points brought up in my coaching room.

The good news is that they can be worked on, and practiced with an executive communication coach. Just like how you learned your technical skills, interpersonal communication skills are learnable as well – you don’t need to be ‘born with it’.

Overcoming the Fear of Speaking Up with Better Interpersonal Communication Skills

As an executive or senior manager, you likely have valuable insights and ideas. However, the fear of speaking up can be paralyzing. You might worry about how your words will be received, fear judgment, or simply doubt the value of your contributions. This hesitation can lead to missed opportunities and a lack of visibility in crucial discussions.

An executive communication coach can help you address these fears by building your confidence and providing strategies to articulate your thoughts clearly. Through coaching, you can learn to trust your voice, understand the impact of your contributions, and overcome the anxiety that holds you back from sharing your valuable insights.

Mabelene Tai is a client of communication & confidence coach Ellery Ng in Singapore

Mabelene Tai

Working on myself with Ellery’s coaching, I’m able to access my courage to voice out what I want, and to voice my opinions without worrying about what other people think about me.”

Enhancing Clarity & Reducing Repetition in Your Interpersonal Communication

Being called to repeat yourself multiple times before your listener understands your message can be a terrible feeling. It’s time-consuming, leading to miscommunication and decreased productivity. I’ve also heard many executives say it makes them feel demoralized and embarassed.

poor interpersonal communication can have demoralizing effects

Improving your interpersonal communication skills involves learning how to convey your message succinctly and clearly from the outset. For a good number of my clients, this alone greatly restores their confidence.

In executive communication coaching, you can work on refining your messaging, ensuring it is clear, concise, and compelling. By focusing on structuring your thoughts and practicing active listening, you can reduce the need for repetition and ensure your message is understood the first time.

Manage Overthinking & People-Pleasing to Strengthen Interpersonal Communication Skills

Some executives and managers find themselves caught in the trap of overthinking and people-pleasing. Overanalyzing every word and action can lead to indecision and inefficiency, while a tendency to people-please can result in compromised leadership and burnout.

In my experience, these people are usually well-intentioned and caring. They want to do a good job while taking care of the people around them. But these intentions can trip them up if they do not have the ’emotional muscle’ for priorities and boundaries.

your level of communication & confidence affects your executive presence

An executive communication coach can helps you break these patterns. By developing greater self-awareness and learning to prioritize your own values and goals, you can make more confident and decisive communications. This shift not only enhances your leadership effectiveness but also promotes a healthier, more balanced approach to your role.

Better Flow of Speech - The Most Obvious Aspect of Good Interpersonal Communication Skills

Even without a speech impediment, many executives struggle with articulating their thoughts and finding the right words. This challenge can undermine your authority and effectiveness in high-stakes conversations.

Believe it or not, this issue is most often emotional in nature. Nearly none of my clients have speech impediments, yet they report their minds blanking out and suffering a loss of words.

With me, I provide you a safe environment to practice and refine your speaking skills. Through experimentations involving role-playing, active listening, and structured feedback, you can become more fluent and articulate in your communications.

Balancing Assertiveness & Sensitivity in Interpersonal Communication Skills

Finding the balance between being assertive and not offending others is a delicate art. You want to be seen as a strong leader, but not at the expense of alienating your team or colleagues. This fear can lead to either being too aggressive or too passive, neither of which is effective.

executive communication coaching can help you even out the odds in a male dominated workplace

Executive communication coaching can help you develop a communication style that is both assertive and empathetic. By understanding the nuances of tone, body language, and word choice, you can learn to assert your ideas confidently while maintaining respect and consideration for others. This balanced approach fosters a positive and productive work environment.

Stronger Interpersonal Communication Skills Allow You To Engage More Meaningfully

If you often find yourself cutting conversations short and disengaging quickly, it is likely another sign that there is work to be done in the area of emotional mastery. Meaningful – and important – conversations will inevitably evoke much emotion.

Where there is risk and reward, there will be discomfort. The ability to dwell in emotional discomfort is crucial for building relationships, understanding perspectives, and driving collaboration.

emotions make your public speaking skills even more effective

In the safety of the coaching room, I guide you through experiments that identify your emotional triggers, and uncover your blindspots. We then co-create strategies that optimise your responses. Through my somatic techniques, I can equip you with methods that are simple yet effective for maintaining a clear and focused mind even in the most challenging situations.  These somatic techniques can be easily replicated in real-life scenarios, allowing you to boost your interpersonal communication skills and maintain your professional image.

communication coaching client Janet Aisyah Quek

Janet Aisyah Quek

“His practical tools enabled me to increase my confidence in handling difficult situations and stakeholders… His techniques are effective because they work both in your mind and in your body.”

The Role of an Executive Communication Coach in Developing Interpersonal Communication Skills

When you work with me to enhance your interpersonal communication skills, you can expect the following methods of support:

Personalized Feedback & Guidance

Through practical experiments in the coaching room, I can provide personalized feedback that target your specific challenges and goals. You’ll gain insights into your communication patterns and receive tailored strategies to improve them. This customized approach ensures that every minute we spend together is 100% relevant to your goals.

confident Singaporean woman executive who can communicate with professional presence

Building Confidence

Confidence is key to effective communication. Yet, it’s time-consuming and too risky to practice building confidence out there in the real-world.

Executive communication coaching helps you build confidence by providing a safe space to practice and refine your skills. Through consistent practice and positive reinforcement, you can develop the self-assurance needed to communicate effectively in any situation.

Developing Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is a critical component of effective communication. When you develop greater emotional awareness and empathy, it’ll enable you to understand and respond to the emotions of others. This skill is particularly important in high-stakes conversations, where the ability to navigate emotions can make a significant difference in outcomes.

Together, we’ll customize practical techniques that you can replicate at your workplace, to be more emotionally-agile.

Benefits of Improving Your Interpersonal Communication Skills

Jace Chen

I had challenges with communication due to mental barriers. Working with Ellery, I felt these barriers break down, & a new way of being opened up. A truly liberating experience. I’ve even gotten a promotion!

Sherilyn Tan

“Ellery helped me to realize that I can change the tone of communication… I could definitely see the results after a few months of coaching. Now, I am able to regulate myself better as well as handle tough sitations with a clearer mind.

Vikram Ramankutty

“I’m able to be more assertive in my requests to my colleagues & managers. And I’ve been able to adopt a more relaxed stance to issues at work.”

Vannessa Toh

My friend told me I have changed alot – from negative, defensive communication to positive, and are able to look things at different perspectives. This also helps in my work when communicating with clients and colleagues.”

Marlene Gonçlaves

“I actually felt a difference in my posture & its positive consequences, either in myself or in the communication with others.”

Meena Kumaree

I discovered how to say ‘No’, in a way that felt powerful yet safe to express. It was quite an emotional breakthrough for me. I understood that I have a voice & I can use it… If you want to greatly improve your communication, relationships and confidence, Ellery is your coach.”

Lawrence Lee

The most significant experience is the posture that he noticed about me. He guided me to be at the correct position when I am speaking and after that, I speak out more confidently… he helped me understand my issues and practice till I overcome it.

Andy Yeo

I gained more value than I expected. They have manifested in my business, my relationship with my loved ones & in the relationship with myself.”

Rachel Wan

“Working with Ellery was highly worth the investment as I gained so many tools I can use for a lifetime & I have been freed in many ways.”

Daniel Whisby

Ellery is a master of his craft. It is clear that he is able to help people from all walks of life… After, I was able to use my body to control my moods & emotions.”

Simran Kaur Sidhu

“Extremely insightful. By talking through some of my own self doubts, why i felt a certain way and practicing a simple exercise, i was able to gain a better understanding of how i was my own barrier and take away concrete next steps.”

Felicia Andes

“I can see the improvement in my communication & relationship with my loved ones & I am closer to them again.”

Michelle Trisno

“El has helped me figure out these blind spots… I’m able to make my needs known to others, thus making my communication a lot better. I am able to give better clarity to those around me as well, both in work and personal relationships. That opens up a lot of potential and confidence in myself.”

Coaching Is For Self-Driven Individuals

Coaching is a form of super-customised learning, focused solely on your needs. It is one of the most dignified forms of professional help, because you choose the topic, direction and depth of what you wish to work on.

In fact, my clients are NOT ‘broken’ in any way. They are capable, creative and self-initiated individuals who want to live out their full potential. Many of them are high-performers at their workplace.

They just want support to help them hit their objectives more quickly and with less pain.

If taking ownership of your growth appeals to you, coaching is might be suitable for you.

WhatsApp me now and find out how you and I can work together on your communication and confidence.

“Everybody needs a coach.”

~ Bill Gates