Effective communication is the foundation of high-performing organizations, particularly in an era of remote work and an expanding array of digital tools like Slack, Teams, WhatsApp and internal digital bulletin boards. Yet, many leaders fail to establish clear communication norms, resulting in burnout, inefficient onboarding, wasted time and reduced productivity.

We’ve conducted hundreds of randomized experiments on effective communication and coached dozens of organizations on improving their writing cultures — from the U.S. Army to Microsoft. We’ve learned that there are several essential topics that leaders and teams must address to build their own effective writing culture.

RESPONSIVENESS EXPECTATIONS

One of the bigger stressors in workplace communication can be mismatched urgency expectations. Research on “email urgency bias” shows that recipients often feel pressured to respond faster than senders actually expect. Conversely, some messages requiring quick decisions go unnoticed for days. Both scenarios create unnecessary friction and slow teams down.

To prevent these misalignments, organizations should establish clear norms for response times across different communication channels. For instance, a team might agree that emails require a 24-hour response, while messages on Slack or Teams need acknowledgment within a few hours. Just as important, teams should have a shared practice for letting senders know when a timely response isn’t possible — preventing frustration and bottlenecks.

In addition to response speed, teams must clarify when employees are expected to engage. Without explicit norms, after-hours communication can blur work-life boundaries, leading to burnout and uneven workloads. To prevent this, some organizations establish “quiet hours,” implement automated reminders about communication boundaries or encourage the use of “send later” features to delay messages outside of working hours. By proactively setting these expectations, leaders foster a work culture that balances responsiveness with well-being — ensuring employees know when they need to be available and when they can fully disconnect.

SPECIFIC CHANNELS FOR SPECIFIC USES

People and teams vary in how they use different communication channels, which can lead to costly inefficiencies. Mapping common activities to specific channels can solve this. Explicitly setting these norms can save time and reduce the risk of missing key information.

MAKE READING EASY

One of the most important principles is less is more. As Blaise Pascal famously wrote, “I’m sorry this letter is so long. I would have written a shorter one if I’d had more time.” Our research supports Pascal’s wisdom. In one experiment, we randomly assigned 7,000 elected and appointed leaders to receive either a 129-word request to complete a survey or a version where we removed the middle sentences so it was only 49 words. When we tested both versions with an independent group, most assumed the longer one would be more effective. But the data told a different story — cutting words nearly doubled the response rate.

Effective communication isn’t just about writing less — it’s about making reading easier. But ease looks different in different settings. That’s why teams should explicitly define their communication norms, ensuring clarity and consistency in everything from emails to reports. Once those expectations are clear, organizations can reinforce them across their teams.

Leveraging advances in emotion detection, natural language processing and computer vision, and combining it with psychology and linguistics, AI algorithms have gotten better at detecting, analyzing and processing how tone, pitch, facial expression, eye contact, body language and dozens of other verbal and nonverbal communication features influence communication.

Since Peter Salvoy and John Mayer first defined emotional intelligence as “a type of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions,” researchers and companies have tried to demystify the art of being a “people person.” Data has proved that emotional intelligence is a strong predictor of professional success.

By letting AI tap into your customer conversations — either voice, video or text — AI can take complex and often puzzling data and find patterns in effective communication not apparent to the naked eye.

THE AI FEEDBACK LOOP

Because customer interactions are so critical, the customer success field has been fertile ground in establishing a 360-degree AI feedback loop: insights on the emotional state of customers are provided before, during and after a customer interaction.

— BEFORE A CUSTOMER INTERACTION: If you have talked to a customer before, Cyrano.AI has patented technology that analyzes previous conversations to create a profile of the customer. That profile might include the customer’s communication style, identifiable priorities or goals and even their exhibited levels of commitment in the last conversation. If you look at the emotional moments of the call and how they drive motivation, you could alter your presentation to your customer’s personality type and see how they respond.

— DURING A CUSTOMER INTERACTION: Customer service and customer success leaders can get real-time feedback and tips to better close a deal, handle objections or empathize with unhappy customers in real time. Cresta, for instance, uses AI to give call center workers real-time feedback through text prompts, so they know what to tell customers in the most common situations. If a customer has an objection, the technology offers a step-by-step prompt to help reps overcome it. An unhappy customer? The technology provides phrases or words to calm the customer.

— AFTER A CUSTOMER INTERACTION: Insights post-customer interaction is where the real power lies, because AI can read from past conversations with the customer and provide improvement feedback. Like a virtuous cycle, the more the AI is used, the better the feedback becomes.

Reciprocity, a leading risk and compliance platform headquartered in San Francisco, enables exactly that scenario for its customer success manager team as part of its tech stack. While its customer meetings are recorded in Gong, the team analyzes those calls with a conversational and emotional intelligence platform, which provides not only a personality profile of the customer’s stakeholders based on past conversations, but uses natural language generation to advise customer success managers on how to work with specific people. The software can also match customer success managers to customer stakeholders based on their similarity in personality and communication style, which reduces friction in the buying or upselling process and enables customer-focused individuals to communicate more authentically and effectively.

Companies are wise to explore AI solutions that can help make their teams more emotionally intelligent, and better communicators. Although the technology is far from perfect, it is becoming more intelligent every day as platforms increase in data, scale and sophistication. The technology is in place to make our teams more emotionally intelligent and companies more successful and profitable.

As organizations become increasingly complex, fast-paced and interconnected, one of the key skills that will set leaders apart will be how they show up and communicate. But there’s one fundamental aspect of effective communication that is often overlooked — your ability to control the steadiness and sound of your voice. The quality of your “vocal presence” can transform not just the delivery of your message, but its very impact.

5 SIMPLE EXERCISES TO IMPROVE YOUR “VOCAL PRESENCE”

Through his close study of anatomical dynamics related to breathing, Robin De Haas, a vocal coach, identified five simple, functional exercises to improve vocal presence.

EXERCISE #1: CONNECT YOUR BREATH TO YOUR BODY.

First, see how your breath is feeling today by performing a gentle hiss sound, holding it as long as it is comfortable. See if you feel any contractions in any part of your body at the end of the hiss.

Then, slowly move each limb for 30 seconds, one at a time, in a circular manner: outlining a slow circle with your foot on the floor for the lower limbs and performing a slow shoulder circle for the upper limbs. Hiss again and see if it feels different. The goal is to retrain ourselves to exhale longer since, in nature, this is what we do in the absence of danger.

EXERCISE #2: FOCUS ON THE EXHALE.

Place your hand in front of your mouth, open your mouth and blow on the hand as if you wanted to silently steam a mirror. Feel a gentle heat on your hand and maintain that steady heat throughout your exhale, letting it seamlessly diminish toward the end (of this unforced) exhale. Then, receive the next inhale silently through your nose.

EXERCISE #3: SPEAK ON THE AIRFLOW.

Building on Exercise #2, you can learn to speak on the airflow when you exhale. The gentle heat on your hand has a beginning and an end. Feeling it begin signals that you have now started your exhale, through which you can talk. The timing of the voice onset should ideally be at the exact moment when the air is flowing out of you.

EXERCISE #4: EXPLORE VOCAL VARIATIONS.

Building on the previous exercise, sustain the “v” sound and vary your loudness and pitch. To vary your loudness, press your lower lip on your upper teeth for a louder sound. For pitch variation, start at a comfortable range and gradually glide up and down, without blowing more air. Then count from one to five and listen to the color of your voice. Then count again, but this time, play with different emotional mindsets while counting (stern, interested, amused, sad, neutral, stressed, happy), and use a recording device to see how your voice color changes with the different mindsets.

EXERCISE #5: CONNECT VOICE AND MIND.

Start by writing a phrase you might have to say in a public setting, such as “Good evening everyone, I wish you a warm welcome to tonight’s event.” Once you have your chosen phrase, record yourself saying it in a neutral way. Then start imagining the actual people you would be talking to, who they are, what they will think about your presentation, how they will feel, how it will feel to you that the big night is finally here and what you wish to convey to them through your speech.

Through conscious practice of breath coordination and vocal techniques, you can develop a more commanding, authentic and engaging presence that will resonate deeply with your audience.

When a major U.S.-based financial institution needed help with an organization-wide transformation, they turned to Debora, a seasoned executive coach and change consultant. The institution was grappling with technological disruption, shifting customer expectations, and mounting regulatory pressures, and they viewed their transformation program as the natural solution to these challenges.

Upon arrival, Debora spent time talking with employees across all levels, many of whom described their post-transformation workplace in a negative light, using such terms as “war room” and “Hunger Games.” The findings from a recent company pulse survey reinforced what she had heard: Although employees understood why change was needed, they felt they were already stretched too thin to take on any new initiatives.

Debora had arrived ready to coordinate initiatives across the organization’s existing transformation program. But she soon realized that a more-fundamental change was in order: The company’s program needed a set of strategies that could be tailored to each department’s specific challenges and constraints. Without such tailoring, even sound transformation initiatives might falter or backfire.

We are H.R. strategy advisers and professors who have studied transformations across industries for more than 15 years, and we have designed a five-step process to drive successful transformation initiatives. In this article, we’ll briefly sum up the process.

ALIGNING STRATEGIES AND MOTIVATION STYLES

Many leaders attempting transformation initiatives fail in three ways. First, they don’t clearly define the type of change their organization or departments are facing, which means they can’t clearly define their specific objectives. Second, they often apply a one-size-fits-all strategy to their situation and don’t assess what sort of balance it calls for between exploration (innovating and risk-taking) and exploitation (optimizing existing processes). And third, they don’t consider who will drive the change and how employees’ differing skills and readiness for change will affect success.

Our research has revealed that underlying these failures lies a crucial factor: Motivation styles are the hidden drivers of change initiatives. Building on the work of Heidi Grant and E. Tory Higgins and their article “Do You Play to Win — or to Not Lose?” we’ve identified three key styles: Play to Win (thriving on growth and opportunity), Play Not to Lose (valuing stability and caution) and Balanced (seeking the middle ground). These styles aren’t merely about skills — they reflect how employees are inherently wired for change.

Aligning change strategies with employee motivation styles is crucial for success.

1. DIAGNOSE YOUR CHANGE TYPE.

Before launching a change initiative, determine whether you need to focus on exploration or exploitation. Different change types require different adaptive behaviors.

Some departments need a strategy of exploration (especially those facing digital disruptions, which demand innovation), while others needed one of exploitation (especially those hoping to optimize existing processes to meet regulations and deliver quality service).

For each department, start by using a decision tree to lay out your needs for radical and incremental change. Next, explore the potential risks of focusing solely on exploration or exploitation for each change theme. This process helps reveal blind spots and guides you toward a balanced, tailored approach.

2. MAP MOTIVATIONAL STYLES.

With your change type identified, the next step is to map out your employees’ motivational styles. When we did this at Debora’s financial institution, we found the following overall distribution: Play to Win (45%), Play Not to Lose (40%) and Balancers (15%).

When working on this task, pay close attention to how team members approach tasks and challenges. Do they focus on potential gains, moving quickly toward solutions? Or do they prioritize avoiding mistakes, taking a more cautious, methodical approach?

3. MATCH MOTIVATIONS TO INITIATIVES.

With a clear understanding of both your change type and the motivational styles of the employees on your teams, you can now strategically assign employees to projects that align with their natural tendencies.

In the case of Debora’s financial institution, we matched Play to Win employees with exploratory projects that involved the development of new financial products, and we matched Play Not to Lose employees with projects focused on regulatory compliance and risk management. Not surprisingly, we placed Balancers in roles that required both innovation and careful execution.

4. TAILOR YOUR CHANGE MESSAGING.

Effective communication about change also isn’t one-size-fits-all. Tailor it to resonate with different motivational styles. At Debora’s financial institution, we coached leaders to frame changes differently across departments, depending on their dominant styles. Examples include: “With this new platform, we’ll lead the market by offering innovative services and products that our competitors can’t match, positioning us as a front-runner in the industry” (Play to Win); “If we don’t implement these changes, we risk falling out of compliance, losing our trusted position with regulators and clients and endangering our reputation and long-term security” (Play Not to Lose); “This transformation will enable us to innovate and stay competitive, while also maintaining the operational security and regulatory compliance that we depend on” (Balancers).

5. ENCOURAGE A PARADOX MINDSET.

Even with the best alignment between change types and motivational styles, organizations will inevitably face situations where contradictory goals must be pursued simultaneously. Encouraging a paradox mindset — so that employees get comfortable in that zone of contradiction — is crucial for sustained adaptability.

Debora applied this approach in the customer experience division of the financial institution she was working with, which needed to innovate to improve customer relationships but also had to implement strict cost controls. She was able to foster a paradox mindset in the division by designing projects that balanced opposing objectives — and by then encouraging open discussions about the inherent tensions that arise. Leaders should model this approach, navigating competing demands transparently. Regular team reflections on these practices reinforce the mindset across the organization.

For years, organizations have chased the perfect transformation plan, yet often they keep failing. The pattern is clear: Well-intentioned change initiatives fail when organizations rush into one-size-fits-all transformations without understanding who they’re asking to change and why. Our research and Debora’s implementation of our five-step process show that success comes from understanding exactly what type of change each department needs and how their employees are wired to deliver it. It is not about the perfect strategy but about making change fit your people, who are the ones who will make it happen.

When you work in sales, no business skill is more essential than effective communication. This is especially true when it comes to giving presentations. Getting to the point, connecting with others quickly and making a strong pitch can be the difference between moving a transaction forward or losing an opportunity.

In a multi-year study, we examined the habits of almost 5,000 sales professionals whose livelihoods depend on their ability to build and deliver persuasive presentations. We identified 12 common mistakes among our respondents.

MISTAKE #1: BEING OVERLY INFORMATIVE

Have you ever felt like prospective clients seem curious about what you’re selling, and maybe even compliment you on giving an informative presentation, but rarely seem to say “yes” or move forward?

Being overly informative is also called data dumping, and it’s one of the highest ranked mistakes in our study. Data dumping happens when a speaker overloads a presentation with an excessive amount of information — often without the proper context or explanation.

When crafting your message, ask yourself: Why does the listener need what you provide? Then make a list of your most salient talking points to show the listener how you can meet those needs.

MISTAKE #2: FAILING TO CLOSE THE SALE

Are you a concluder or a closer? A conclusion is more of a wrap up. A close is a specific call to action.

Out of the almost 5,000 participants in the study, 2,336 self-identified that they “concluded but did not close,” meaning they neglect to ask their listeners to take some form of action at the end of their presentation. When the moment arrives, they commit a wide range of missteps that include talking around their close, talking too much or just thanking the listeners for their time.

To gracefully close, you need to first acknowledge that asking your prospect to do something is a part of your job. It can be as simple as: “Would you like to move forward with ____?” Then share the next step in the process.

MISTAKE #3: WINGING IT

Winging it is improvising, ad-libbing or generally conducting a presentation without much preparation. Our study findings show that sales professionals who committed the mistake of “winging it” consistently failed to prepare, practice and get into the right frame of mind beforehand. As a result, they appeared disorganized, off-point and/or ill-prepared in front of clients.

Practice is essential to a successful performance. Before you walk into the room on the day of, it’s also useful to clear your mind and get your head in the game. Take a few beats to get focused, and leave distractions at the door.

This small step makes a significant difference in improving results.

GENERATE BETTER OUTCOMES

Whether you are a novice or seasoned pro, learning vicariously through others can help you quickly evaluate challenges in your presentations and make simple corrections that can expand your influence and generate better outcomes. We all have good days and bad days, and that’s okay. You don’t have to be perfect to be effective. The message here is to be presentation ready.