Platinum Communications identifies the practical skills required to fulfill the Platinum Rule: “Treat others the way they want to be treated.”
Platinum Communication – Four Levels
The Platinum Communication framework groups the required skills into four levels:
- Know your audience
- Develop deep self-awareness
- Develop deep awareness of others
- Create collaborative partnerships
Mastering Platinum Communications involves starting with the bulls eye: Know Your Audience and working outward through levels with increasing challenges.
You may already have mastered a large body of communication practice. Platinum Communication structures what you have learned. Map the skills you already possess to the four levels and then look for obvious gaps.
Bulls Eye, Level 1, Know Your Audience: Audience may be one person or one thousand. Audiences expect respect, and a respectful relationship leads to authentic communication. To respect someone, means to “look again” or “look beneath the surface of what you see or hear.” When you care enough to probe even gently, you have a basis for authentic communication.
Level 2, Know Your Self: It is critical that you know your basic beliefs, prejudices and assumptions about yourself, the world, and your immediate audience. Audiences will respect your views if they are clear and understandable.
Level 3, Know Others: Platinum communication is founded on the principle that putting others first is key to authentic relationships. When others know they are important to you, your relationship will deepen and grow..
Level 4, Create Collaborative Partnerships: Collaboration is teamwork in action. Partnerships are built on trust and clear expectations. Partnerships work when Platinum communication works both ways, when each partner puts the other partner before him/herself.
These four levels of increasing communications complexity create the Platinum Communication framework.
