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Mastering Direct Communication: Key Strategies For Leaders With Geraldine Serrano · Speak In Flow

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  Melinda Lee: Hello dear listeners, welcome to the Speak
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  In Flow Podcast. Today I have a special guest on this episode
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  and all like all our episodes were focused around sharing
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  unique experiences that will help you unleash your leadership
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  voice as a leader as a team leader. Today, we have Geraldine
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  Serrano, she's a specialty tax consultant working at Vera tax
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  advisory. Hi, Geraldine.
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  Geraldine Serrano: Hi, Melinda, thank you for having me.
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  Melinda Lee: Thank you for having thank you for being here.
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  I find you vary your confident your direct you lead teams. And
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  so tell us a little bit more about what you do in the test
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  specialty area.
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  Geraldine Serrano: Sure. Yeah, so I help both residential and
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  commercial real estate investors lower their tax liability with
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  an under utilised tax strategy called cost segregation. And I
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  also help companies that are creating or improving a product
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  or service qualify for the research and development tax
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  credit.
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  Melinda Lee: While it's very specialised in niche no wonder
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  why you're busy?
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  Geraldine Serrano: Yes. We just got a lot.
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  Melinda Lee: I love good, sorry. Keep going. Oh, we
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  Geraldine Serrano: just got past I just got past the April
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  deadline, but I'm still busy. And will I'm gonna get even
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  busier as we approach the September and October deadline.
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  Melinda Lee: Oh my gosh. Well, that's why you have a team. And
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  I love your analogy about a team. Tell us more about that.
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  Geraldine Serrano: Yeah, so I love playing and watching
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  soccer. And I had a teammate during a game. Tell me, I
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  watched him take that the soccer ball, go through all 11 players,
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  including the goalie, and score. And so after he scored, I said,
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  Great. I don't have to do anything. And he said, No, no,
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  no, there is no I in team that we still have to be a team in
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  order to win the game. And that's the mindset I have, when
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  with the people that I work with, to do this specialty tax
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  work, that it's not just me, that is able to do the work.
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  It's my entire team, I bring in the person that needs our
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  services. And then it's my team and I that work together to make
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  sure we're able to provide them what they need in order to
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  reduce what they're going to owe in taxes.
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  Melinda Lee: Mm hmm. So it's really there's a lot of
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  deadlines, there's a lot of people involved. And it's a
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  we're not an eye to make it super efficient and effective.
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  And, and so there's a lot of communication that needs to
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  happen effective communication. And what I found is since
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  getting to know you more is that your communication, your direct,
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  and you're confident. And so we talked about what that feels
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  like when someone approaches you, you're doing a lot of
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  things you sell for the company, you bring in clients, you're
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  talking to high net worth clients. So you're busy, and
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  someone comes to you. And they are long winded. They have a lot
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  of detail. And they're not getting to the point like what
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  does that feel like for you?
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  Geraldine Serrano: For me, because naturally I'm impatient.
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  It's really hard for me to sit there and listen to someone that
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  just goes on and on. But I do it right, because I feel like I
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  have to somehow process what they're telling me. I my mind
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  works in bullet points. So after I listen, Oh, interesting, they
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  have to say, Then I repeat it back to them in bullet points,
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  like so for example, I was talking to a referral yesterday.
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  And they were going on and on and on. And in, in this in what
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  they were saying. There wasn't like how I told you I work in
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  bullet points. So it wasn't like Geraldine. Here's question one.
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  Here's question two. Here's Question three. So when, in this
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  whole huge talk that they had, I had to figure out by paying
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  attention and listening and repeat it back to them that I
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  feel like you have three questions. And here are the
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  three questions that I think you have. Is that correct? Or did I
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  miss something? And so that way, they can tell that I'm
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  listening, and they can tell me if I right or wrong of what
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  their questions are? Because it wasn't succinct. Yeah. Yeah. And
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  Melinda Lee: I Yeah, and the reason why I'm bringing this up
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  is because I get this a lot. So I get from my clients and these
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  are VPS executives who are pitching to probably owners of
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  the company president level and they need support because they
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  do want to bring in a lot of information. To the CEO, and
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  just like you, you're the company owner, you have a lot to
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  do. And so for you to have to work hard to listen to somebody
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  and find the bullet points of three key points. It just it
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  feels like the I want them to people to understand the
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  listeners to understand on the receiving and you're giving the
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  other person more work. Right. Right. So yeah, like, Okay, I
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  really think hard and really listen hard. What is this
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  person's point? Right, when, when they're including too much
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  detail, I think the sender or the communicator feels like this
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  other person needs to hear everything, when they don't,
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  especially
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  Geraldine Serrano: right. And to put that to also add to that,
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  Melinda is, so for example, today, I'm going to give a five
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  minute presentation on cost segregation to the Chinese Real
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  Estate Association of America, I've only got five minutes. And
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  so if I were to barf on that audience, right now, I want to
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  give so much information, nobody's going to understand one
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  word that I said, Because I'm speaking too fast. And it's too
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  much information. However, if I know what I'm going to say, and
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  I'm very, and the way if I know what I'm going to say, and I
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  present it in a way that people can easily understand, then that
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  five minutes is going to be useful to them, because I made
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  sure ahead of time that I prepared on what I'm going to
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  say in those five minutes, and how I'm going to present that
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  information so that the audience is left with valuable
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  information that they can use after hearing me speak for five
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  minutes. And that's what I mean. So that's why it's really
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  important how we communicate. Because if you want the receiver
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  to get the message that you want them to have, then it's really
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  important how you communicate that otherwise the message never
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  gets to them. And it's just lost.
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  Melinda Lee: Right? Right. And we overthink it, or we think
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  they need all the details. And that actually waters down the
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  message. So how did you prepare for your five minute today?
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  Well,
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  Geraldine Serrano: so last year, I read a I read a book that
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  taught me how to give a TED talk. Oh, nice. What is it
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  called? How to how to talk like 10? I think, yeah, I read. Uh
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  huh. And so a TED talk is supposed to be 18 minutes.
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  Because if you give, if you're under 18, you don't have enough
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  content, people feel like you didn't provide enough content.
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  If you go over 18 minutes, then it's information overload. So my
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  presentation is 18 minutes. Also, it teaches you how to tell
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  stories, because that's what people relate to. So in my TED
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  talk, I give, I tell three stories. So in these five
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  minutes, I'm only going to tell one story. And I'm going to, and
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  I'm going to end it with the way I end my tech talk, because I
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  only have five minutes. And the organiser of this event asked me
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  for my PowerPoint slides, and I only have I only have one, and
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  it has my contact information on it. And she was surprised and
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  worried because she's used to people having you know, such you
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  know, so many slides, you know, that are filled with text. And I
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  just had my contact information. Because if you see a TED talk,
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  typically there is no PowerPoint, there is no slides.
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  And if you and if you think about speakers like Steve Jobs,
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  if there is a slide or anything in the background, it's just a
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  picture. Yeah, that will help explain what he's talking about.
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  So that's why I don't have any slides. But I can understand
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  that most people are used to someone having a PowerPoint
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  filled with text, because that's what we're used to. Oh, totally
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  Melinda Lee: Oh, my gosh, and we need to overfill are over again.
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  And there's so much that we know, especially as experts, and
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  we have the chance to talk we want to share so much. And I
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  think that we just don't, we have to remember that one point.
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  And going deeper into one point is so much more valuable to the
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  listener. And I love how you're what you're doing tonight, which
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  is just one slide, one story and then a closing that's so perfect
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  and right like how to be direct how to really hit home on your
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  message. Just having one point. If you have five minutes. That's
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  one point. In a story or a story, it's even better. Yeah,
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  engaging.
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  Geraldine Serrano: And it's also important, how I present that
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  and What I mean by that is I took communication in college.
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  And there's something called the speaker's triangle. So I don't
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  stay in one spot. All right, so I'm going to move, I'm going to,
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  I'm going to start out in the middle. And then when I move on
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  to the story, I'm going to move to one side of the room. And
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  then when I close, I'm going to move to another side of the
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  room. So that's one way I communicate when I do my
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  presentation. Also, I like because I don't know who's going
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  to be in the audience. I get to know my audience upfront. So I'm
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  going to ask, does anyone know about cost segregation, so I can
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  get the audience engaged? Because what do you typically
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  see anywhere? Even if you're not at a presentation, people are
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  always on their phones. And if they're not, in, I can see who's
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  paying attention or not paying attention, right? But if I
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  engage the audience, because I'm asking them a question, then
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  that's a great way to make sure that I know people are gonna pay
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  attention to what I have to say.
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  Melinda Lee: Right? Right. It's more like a conversation, trying
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  to engage the audience and using movement to connect with people
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  on the left side or the right side, depending on what point
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  you are at in your story. Yeah,
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  Geraldine Serrano: and I'm also going to have people that I know
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  in the audience, and I'm going to call on them, so that people
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  aren't, always aren't looking just at me, I'm going to point
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  somebody, someone I know out in the audience, and they're going
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  to stand up and I'm going to refer to them as Miss, I hate
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  the IRS, then, then, then I'm going to have another friend who
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  will be on the other side of the room. And I'm going to refer to
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  her as Mrs. I hate the IRS too. So it makes it fun. Right? Yeah.
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  Wants to just sit there and be bored.
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  Melinda Lee: Right? Right. And creative and fine. Yeah,
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  awesome. Do you just come up with that? Like, do you? Do they
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  know? Does the audience know that you're gonna do that your
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  friends? The audience doesn't know. But my friends know, your
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  friends, though. Your friends, though. Okay, good.
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  Geraldine Serrano: Yeah. And then also, towards the end of my
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  presentation, I'm going to explain to I'm going to tell the
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  audience what they actually do for work, and then have and then
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  associate it with the work that I do, saying that the results of
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  the work that I do this specialty tax work is going to
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  be applied differently in their tax situations, it won't be
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  applied the same. So it'll get them thinking, right, like I
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  pointed somebody out in the audience, and their eyes are not
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  just on me, they're able to not sit there and be bored, they
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  have to be paying attention to who I'm pointing out and what
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  I'm saying about them.
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  Melinda Lee: I love that. I love that. Yes, so many great tips
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  and insights. Can you share with us? What are three things if you
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  have someone that tend to share a lot of details? What are three
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  tips that you can share with them to help them because they
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  don't know what details to share? And what not to share?
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  What what could you help them with? With tips?
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  Geraldine Serrano: Um, I think, you know, one tip, I would say
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  because I'm impatient, and I don't like it when people are
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  long winded, but I feel like, you know, you're gonna come
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  across those people. And I think what's really important is you
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  have to make sure you listen well, because you have to sift
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  through the information, you have to sift through what they
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  tell you and figure out what what is their point? And or what
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  are there questions? And then, and then I feel like to make
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  sure I understood what they said to me, then I either one, repeat
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  it back to them in a succinct manner of what I think they
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  said. And or to figure out if, tell them what I think their
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  questions are. And then I tell them to tell me if I understood
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  what they were telling me. Right. Yeah, right. That
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  provides that provides them the opportunity to tell me if I
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  understood what they said or not. And if I did great, if I
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  didn't, then they can try a different way. Or repeat what
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  they said and maybe, you know, I can figure out what I
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  misunderstood. Right?
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  Melinda Lee: Right. And then what about people on the
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  opposite side? How do they prepare to talk to you? If they
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  have way too many details?
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  Geraldine Serrano: What do you mean if the way someone
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  Melinda Lee: someone says okay, I'm going to talk to Geraldine,
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  and I've all this information? How can I best prepare?
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  Geraldine Serrano: Oh, yeah. Well, you know, the example I
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  give is, you know, when I work with my assistant, you know,
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  he'll, I'll ask him to draft an email to follow up on payment.
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  And he'll write a long winded email saying I hope this email
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  finds you well, and I'm following up on, you know, the
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  invoice that was sent to you, and you should have received it
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  by bla bla bla. And he'll just go on and on and on and on. And
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  all. I'll tell him to that I want two sentences. I want Did
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  you receive the invoice? And if so, when can we expect payment?
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  You know, and that and so that's extremely shorter than his long
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  winded email. Right, right. So I feel like, especially in our
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  world here in the States, not like other countries, you know,
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  here, we're, we live in a fast paced environment, right,
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  everybody wants, you know, things done, and answered
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  quickly, right. And so I feel like, if I or a client were to
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  open up an email, and see a long email that they would have to
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  take time to read, if there were so busy. What, then that's
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  probably going to go on the back burner, because just from the
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  look of it, we'll think, oh my gosh, this is going to take so
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  much time to write this. And so I feel like but when I give a
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  short email, right, the two sentences, did you get the
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  invoice? When can we expect payment, it's gonna be it's
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  gonna get read. And that goes into the, you know, and study,
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  research shows that a text is answered quicker than an email
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  or a voicemail. So because we want those quick conversations,
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  right. So I think the shorter so a saying I like is word economy
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  is key. I may not be the greatest at it. But that's what
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  I like. And I think it's great when people have that.
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  Melinda Lee: Oh, you're great at it. You're great at it. Even you
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  know, just when I met you really quickly, I can get the sense
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  that yeah, word economy is key. Thank you. Oh, thank you,
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  Geraldine. I think those tips are very, extremely helpful.
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  Because it puts us in the other shoes where the receiver if I
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  see this long email, I can picture myself getting
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  overwhelmed. So I think the leaders out there who have a lot
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  of details and don't know how to sort through it. Just imagine
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  receiving a long email and having to sort through it, like
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  how would you feel? And then just try to get down to the one
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  or two points. If it's an email, maybe two points. At the most,
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  you can just do just what are your key points? What are the
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  bullet points and then just put it into the email? Or even when
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  you're speaking to somebody? What if you have five minutes
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  one point, right. But if you're gonna say three points, just say
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  the three points, you don't have to give details, just the the
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  three points. Right. If you have one point, you can give a little
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  bit more detail in five minutes. That's a rough estimate. But
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  just be very specific and be very specific to the point,
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  right. Yeah. Love this. Thank you, Geraldine. And if people
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  needed to reach out to you for some support for some tax
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  advice, like what can we put your email address? What's the
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  best way? You
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  Geraldine Serrano: can either call or email me? My phone
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  numbers? 510-386-0872. And my email address is Geraldine at
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  their attacks. advisors.com.
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  Melinda Lee: Awesome. Thank you so much. Thanks, Geraldine.
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  Reach out to her. And thank you so much for being on the
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  podcast. We we got a lot. I got a lot out of it. That was great.
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  Well,
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  Geraldine Serrano: thanks for having me, Melinda. And I hope
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  that the listeners get a lot out of what we talked about.
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  Melinda Lee: I think so I think they did. Yes. Thank you,
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  listeners for joining us. Appreciate you being here. Until
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  our next episode. Take care. Bye. Bye. Hi.