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Virginia Vaughn
Speech 1311
24 January 2019
The Power of Communication
Communication is very important in our everyday lives. People have communicated since
primitive days with grunts, body language, and carvings on stone walls. We as humans have
always found a way to communicate. It is amazing how communication skills have changed
throughout the centuries, we can communicate with most everyone including the mentally
disabled, blind, or deaf and hard of hearing. When you improve your communication skills you
improve your employability, earn ability, relationships and health. A great way to improve your
communication skills and learn the tools you need to further succeed in life is to interview
professionals and truly take in every word as you listen to their answers.
Today I interviewed a man that I consider to be a true professional. His name is Steve
Bridges and he is the Regional Sales Manager for Sysco. His whole job is evolved around
communication. He meets and interacts with clients on a regular basis as well as he is the hiring
and firing strongarm of the company. Communication is key when you must talk to as many
people as Mr. Bridges must daily. There are times when he does entire days of meetings and
presentations, where he communicates with large groups of people. My interview with Mr.
Bridges lasted approximately 25 minutes and consisted of 13 questions.
I asked Mr. Bridges a series of questions about his communication responsibilities and
skills. The interview was conducted at his place of business during the afternoon hours. He’s a
very busy man so his answers were short but concise. The interview questions and answers went
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like such, question one; How do you prefer to build rapport with others? Mr. Bridges replied,
“Face to face and over time by proving myself”. Question two; How would you go about
simplifying a complex issue in order to explain it to a client or colleague? He replied, “Break the
situation down to step by step, explaining the benefits and how each step affects them”. Question
three; How would you go about persuading someone to see things your way at work? He
replied, “First get the person to understand why it needs to be done and use that "why" and how
it would benefit them”. Question four; How would you go about explaining a complex idea/
problem to a client who was already frustrated? “Find through open ended questions what
happened and why they are frustrated, then explain the solution and asking if they agree that it is
the correct solution in their mind”. Question five; What would you do if you there was a
breakdown in communication at work? He replied, “Evaluate what was originally communicated
and where it failed, then go back over the communication, asking if each step was understood”.
Question six; How would you explai...
