As a leader of an organization, it pays to be able to say the right things the right way. But effectively communicating takes more than public speaking skills.

“Trust is a critical element in effective communications. Often when leaders need to make an important presentation, they will spend a great deal of time and effort working on their delivery and making sure they have the right content,” says Joseph Folkman, founder of leadership development firms Novations and Zenger Folkman, in Forbes. “They also ought to spend time on ensuring that they have high levels of trust.”

Building positive relationships helps build trust, Folkman suggests. When interacting with employees, be inclusive and appreciative of those who think or act differently than you. And if you need to give feedback, offer constructive criticism and focus on the positives.

“Most groups and people do more things right than they do wrong, so recognize people for what they do right and help them improve on a few weaknesses,” Folkman says.

You can also build trust by providing employees with new information that will benefit them.

“We trust others who have expertise that we don’t have. It’s never very interesting to have someone tell you what you already know,” Folkman says.

The Power of Data Visualization

NEW PROTECH BLOG – "Data Visualization: What It Is & Why It Matters to Your Association"#AssociationAnswers #assnchat #associationmanagementhttps://t.co/wXge0qnZh3

— Protech Associates (@protechcloud) April 7, 2020

So your association has a bunch of important data that’s valuable to members. Having trouble identifying important concepts or patterns? Use data visualization.

“It can be difficult to visualize those endless rows of data to understand the story it tells about your association’s membership,” says Protech’s Tom Masiello. “In a time of automation, streamlining, and integration with third-party apps, your executive management team needs data visualization tools to make faster and smarter decisions.”

Masiello points to the capabilities of Microsoft Power BI, which allows users to combine hundreds of datasets to view a full scope of internal operations, membership, and future market opportunities.

“Your board of directors can access this data through a link that updates views in real time—which means no more outdated materials in PDFs and Word documents,” Masiello says.

Other Links of Note

To help those who had to pivot to online teaching, Capterra has identified five free LMS software systems to check out.

Want to improve video quality during a virtual chat? Try your smartphone, suggests CNET’s Alison DeNisco Rayome.

Looking for ways to effectively guide chapter leaders? A recent post from Billhighway offers communication guidelines for unusual times.

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