What’s Wrong with Being Confident?

Communicating Effectively with Confidence

Confident communication is a vital skill in the workplace and beyond. Whether you're leading a team, completing a project, or navigating difficult conversations, your ability to express ideas clearly, listen actively and provide constructive feedback is crucial for your success.

The following is a guest blog post from Cassling Leadership Institute speaker and Executive Coach Nicole Winkler. Healthcare leaders (and healthcare leaders in the making) can learn more via the Cassling Leadership Institute!

Why Communication is a Critical Skill

The best ideas, solutions or execution can fall flat without clear and engaging communication. Poor communication can lead to misunderstandings, low morale and inefficiency. On the other hand, strong communication fosters trust, alignment, and productivity.

Studies show that leaders and employees who communicate well are more effective in building relationships, resolving conflicts and motivating their teams. (You don’t have to lead a team to be a leader on your team.) Yet many professionals struggle with confident communication, which is a vital skill in the workplace and beyond. Whether you're leading a team, completing a project, or navigating difficult conversations, your ability to express ideas clearly, listen actively and provide constructive feedback is crucial for your success.

Here's how to get better at all 3 of those things.

Express Ideas Clearly and Assertively

Have you ever struggled to get your point across in meetings? Do you find yourself over-explaining, hesitating or being too aggressive?

Clarity is about being concise, logical, and engaging in your communication. Assertiveness means expressing your thoughts confidently while respecting others' perspectives.

You can use the CLEAR Framework to help structure your communication.

• Concise – Avoid unnecessary details; get to the point.
• Logical – Organize your thoughts in a structured way.
• Engaging – Use compelling language that captures attention.
• Appropriate – Adapt your tone and style based on your audience.
• Result-Oriented – Focus on outcomes and actionable steps.

Interactive Exercise to Utilize: Practice rewriting a vague or confusing message into a clear and assertive statement.

The Power of Active Listening

Communication isn’t just about speaking—it’s also about listening with intention and without distractions. Great listeners make others feel heard, valued and understood.

Too many professionals engage in passive listening—hearing words without fully processing them. Active listening involves engagement, reflection and responsiveness.

The LADDER Technique can enhance your listening skills:

• Look interested – Maintain eye contact, nod and use open body language.
• Ask clarifying questions – Encourage deeper insights.
• Don't interrupt – Give the speaker space to express their thoughts.
• Demonstrate empathy – Reflect back on what was said.
• Encourage discussion – Foster a two-way conversation.
• Respond appropriately – Show that you understood and value their input.

Interactive Activity to Utilize: Pair up with a friend or colleague for a listening exercise. Get a timer ready for 3 minutes. Start with one person sharing a challenge while the other practices active listening techniques. Then reset the timer to 3 minutes and reverse roles.

How did you do? How did you know you were being heard? How can you incorporate that into your communication in other areas of your life professionally and personally?

How to Give Constructive Feedback and Handle Tough Conversations

One of the most challenging aspects of communication is delivering and receiving feedback and managing difficult conversations. Many professionals struggle with finding the right balance — either avoiding the conversation altogether or being too critical.

In this session, we will introduce the SBI Model for giving effective feedback:

• Situation – Describe the context of the feedback.
• Behavior – Clearly state the observed behavior.
• Impact – Explain how the behavior affected the team, project, or organization.

An example: "You’re always late to meetings, and it’s frustrating."

Utilizing SBI Mode: "I noticed that, in the last three meetings, you arrived 10 minutes late (Situation). When that happens, we have to repeat information, which slows down our discussions (Behavior). This affects the team’s ability to stay on schedule (Impact)."

Case Study Activity: Analyze a tough feedback scenario you’ve been avoiding, writing down the situation using the SBI model. Who can you receive feedback or recommendations from with your feedback? When will you have this tough conversation confidently?

Healthcare leaders can learn more in the full webinar, which will be available on demand soon! View our full webinar library here.