More than half of horse owners participating in a recent survey reported they had at one time or another fired their veterinarian. The reasons were not based on the vets’ intelligence, availability, or cost but, rather, communications failures and dissatisfaction with practitioners’ attitudes. In light of this data, author and keynote speaker Connie Dieken described ways veterinarians can improve communications and effectively influence clients at the 2012 American Association of Equine Practitioners’ (AAEP) Convention held Dec. 1-5 in Anaheim, Calif.

Picking up on the theme of her book, Talk Less and Say More, Dieken noted that we live in an impatient and distracted world that is in the throes of a communication revolution. "In the face of these ‘weapons of mass distraction,’ the way we communicate has forever changed," Dieken emphasized. "Every communication has three aspects: A, the one you deliver; B, the one you wished you had delivered; and C, the one your audience experiences."

If veterinarians can effectively influence their communications, she remarked, they’ll have clients for life that will respect boundaries and be willing to pay for services. To achieve this end, she suggested her audience members become facile in three different types of communication skills.

First, being connected–this person captures a client’s attention and is able to stay in his or her moment."The problem," Dieken reported, "is that we often get caught up in our moment and miss identifying with the other person’s emotions or recognizing their resistance." She illustrated this idea using Dr. Martin Luther King’s "I Have a Dream" speech: He hadn’t intended to give that unforgettable speech after his original address; he only did so after looking out over the sea of people and, realizing they wanted and needed more, he stayed with them "in their moment