Welcome to the community of effective communicators. As I mentioned in the last blog article, this is the first of 10 blog articles to introduce you to the Intelligent Communication approach to effective communication.

I look forward to sharing with you a few key fundamentals that will begin making you more effective in your interactions with others. By developing a more deliberate approach to communication, using the Intelligent Communication model, you will achieve more of your goals. The Intelligent Communication way to communicate will help you connect with others and be more compelling in your messages.

How this Course Works

This course consists of 10 lessons in a series of 10 blog articles. The lessons are short, so each lesson will not take much time to complete. Every week, I will post the next lesson in the course as a new blog post.

Why wait a week between lessons?

This is a course in communication techniques. Therefore, I want to give you some time to actually apply the learning in each lesson in your own life. So, after you complete each lesson, I will give you a practical exercise to try out the techniques taught in that lesson.

Don’t worry, I am not going to ask you to try anything difficult. Better communication is not difficult. You become better just by applying a deliberate approach with a few simple techniques on a consistent basis. You can do that!

Intelligent Communication — The Beginning

I created the original Intelligent Communication model several years ago, based on my experience as a career intelligence officer. At the time, I was overseeing training programs for some military and intelligence organizations. Below is a short video that introduces the original Intelligent Communication model.

Do you want to communicate like an intelligence collector? You are on your way. You will read more about the updated versions of Intelligent Communication in the next lesson.

Practical Exercise

The practical exercise for this first lesson is an easy one. I want you to begin changing your mindset. Start thinking of communication in a more deliberate way. View communication as a tool that will help you achieve your goals. It is not, as most people think, just something you just do. You have taken the first step by signing up for this course.

If you have any questions or comments concerning this lesson, post them in the comments section below. This way, all participants can benefit from your question. Many may have the same question. I will monitor this area and respond as soon as I am able.

And one more thing to practice…and you will see this advice from me at the end of each lesson: be quick to hear and slow to speak.

rjm