Be a first-class noticer: becoming a great communicator begins with building awareness

Every great communicator starts with an awareness of themselves in context, in relationship, in a dance with the world around them.

This week, be a first-class noticer.

My father, Warren Bennis, loved to say that great leaders were “first-class noticers,” a line from Saul Bellow’s The Actual.

I would say that great communicators share this ability to notice, as well.

This week, we practice being  “first class noticers.” We become anthropologists, taking note of ourselves and the world around us.

1. Use all of your senses to notice this moment:

   1. What do you smell?

   2. What do you hear?, The creaking floors, a bird’s song muted through the window.

   3. What do you taste? Lingering coffee.

   4. What do you see? A stained curtain, a leaning tree.

   5. What do you feel? On your skin. Your heartbeat.  A tightness in your throat.

2. After this sensual check-in, take this awareness out, into the world, into your relationships.

   1. Notice the tilt of a chin

   2. The downturn of a lip

   3. The tension in the room

   4. The helping hand