Communication enhancement
Clinical Psychology Associates has a proven track record of enabling individuals and teams to communicate more clearly, effectively and persuasively, which is fundamental to almost all commercial roles.
Why is communication enhancement important?
Often, the effectiveness of people with the experience or specialist knowledge needed to perform vital roles – such as pitching for new business, selling products or services, managing projects or teams, or servicing clients – is undermined by anxiety in social or performance situations.
Whereas some people routinely experience this type of anxiety in the course of normal interactions at work, those who are generally very confident may only be affected in high-pressure situations such as pitches and presentations.
How can we help your company?
Companies sometimes employ communication consultants or performance coaches to help their employees cope better with situations they find difficult. However, this cannot adequately address the underlying social anxiety that represents the most significant cause of the difficulties they encounter, such as being unable to speak clearly and confidently, showing overt signs of discomfort, projecting negative and defensive body language, and failing to engage and build rapport with people.
As clinical psychologists, we assess and formulate the relationships between the most important contributory factors: the distorted ways in which people appraise their own performance and interpret the reactions of others; their emotional responses; the symptoms of physiological arousal they experience; and the behaviours they engage in that are intended to control anxiety and improve performance, but which in reality have the opposite effects.
Based on this detailed understanding of the process by which anxiety impairs communication and interaction when people are under pressure, interventions focus on changing their negative thoughts and interpretations, switching their attention to an external focus, helping them to control anxiety and any associated physical sensations and, crucially, replacing their unhelpful behaviours with positive coping strategies.
What outcomes have been demonstrated?
The value of these interventions to specialist teams has been shown objectively in terms of increased sales and greater success in pitches for new business. Moreover, on subjective measures, individuals have reported increased confidence and greater perceived effectiveness in making presentations, delivering in-house training and communicating with colleagues and clients.