I had two back to back speaking engagements at different conferences last week. While it was exhausting afterwards, I was so energized by the conversations and connections with people all around. If I met you at one of them—👋🏼Hi! So glad you’re here.

While I was delivering my session on one of my favorite topics (Impactful Communication), an important question was raised. I was talking about the importance of knowing your audience and acknowledging our audience, in order to have influence towards a desired outcome in any communication.

This audience member was wondering if that would give off the impression that you’re just a pushover, constantly agreeing with everyone just to avoid conflict. It was such a real and honest question, because earlier on in my career I definitely fell into that trap. The trap of agreeing in meetings before I even objectively considered what I truly believed or thought about the topic. All for the sake of preserving relationships and making others feel comfortable. All to avoid conflict.

The important thing to note—and the distinction I made in response to this question—was that you can absolutely acknowledge someone, without agreeing with them. This is a skill and a nuance that I’ve had to learn over the years in my role as I heavily disagreed with people in the corporate finance world, constantly telling people bad news or telling them “no” when it comes to money. But one universal truth that I came to learn is: I can always acknowledge them, without agreeing with them.

So in celebration of this wonderful question and such engaging conversations that took place during these conferences, I am sharing my Impactful Communication Template here for you all to use! It includes my 3S Communication Framework, which I use for all of my own communication plans. This is a fillable PDF, so feel free to download it and type directly. Or, you could print it out and write out your thoughts (my own preference 🙂 ). This template was created by me to help all of my clients improve their communication skills while focusing on what is truly the most important—your audience + your desired outcome. And now, it’s yours to use as well!

If you use this template, your audience will likely thank you and experience your message in a much more concise, clear, and targeted way. We as humans like to know where we’re going. We also like to feel acknowledged. This template helps you achieve that, for any type of communication at work or in life.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Your question: “Should I negotiate if I got a job offer? I’m afraid, especially in this job market.”

My response: Short answer, yes. Negotiating is okay, even in today’s market (employer market). I’m continuing to add to a series on YouTube focused on salary negotiation. Go watch here if you need more guidance.

Expanded answer: Always do your research and determine what a fair, reasonable pay range is based on your level of experience, job title, location, industry, etc.

Then, come up with the following 3 numbers for your salary negotiation: 1) Your ideal $ (kept secret from them), 2) Your bottom-line/worst case $ (kept secret from them), 3) Your starting $ (share this with them initially).

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