Imagine a world where people were incapable of good communication. In the workplace, chaos would reign! Briefs would be misunderstood. Deadlines missed. Entire concepts gone out the window. But take a step back before that - even trying to get a foot in the door. Landing a job isn't down to pure chance and good luck; you need good communication in order to articulate your strengths, abilities, goals and aspirations.

We do get to meet some very creative people here at Artisan. Week after week, its fantastic sitting down and being impressed, inspired and amazed by the person opposite you. One of the true benefits is hearing first hand about a project or campaign by someone who was directly involved. Generally this is where we find out about a person. Some try to impress us with their buzz words and show how much they know. Others explain the processes and their involvement so that we can understand simply and easily within the time we have together.

At Artisan we do ask the hard questions, such as “where do you see your career going?” and “what are your strengths?”. Granted, some people aren’t prepared for these kinds of questions and having to think on the fly about their future. Some people can improvise and others struggle.

Fail To Plan or Plan To Fail?
Before approaching any situation where you'll be required to talk about yourself, your skills and what you have to offer, you shouldn't fail to plan your meeting. It isn't as hard as you might think - I've often told many freelancers to imagine that they owned a company and that they were looking to employee a new person, what kind of person would they want and what kind of questions would they ask to identify that person? Once you have your list of questions, you can prepare your answers so that you can walk in feeling confident that you know you can handle the hard questions.

Give Me Experience
It's one thing to keep it clear and succinct however keep in mind that 'yes' or 'no' answers are not going to cut it in meetings. You want to convey your experience and your ability, and the easiest way to do that is to give examples of experiences that you've gone through and how your ability has given an outcome. Brainstorm a few prior to your meeting, even taking time to rehearse your responses if you're not a natural speaker and then you'll be ready to handle any question with the level of detail that will offer confidence freely.

Don't Waffle
Having said that, make sure you don't have answers that feel too 'epic'. You want to make sure that your stories make it easy for others to picture your skills without become too complex, over the top or just pure 'waffle'. Have the point in mind and make sure your stories achieve that point quickly and effectively. After all, good communication is about allowing the other to see the picture you have in your head and to share the experience that you've had.

Leonardo da Vinci said it best I think – “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”.

Do you have some tips on good communication? Why not share them with us and we'll publish them online.