Download - Fundamental #13 Communicate to be understood
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FUNDAMENTAL #13
Communicate to be understood.
Know your audience. Write and speak in a way that they canunderstand. Use the simplest possible explanation.
Heres a simple question: Whats the purpose ofcommunication? I think its for two (or more) people to
understand each other. So if Im writing or speaking, the
barometer of success is equally simple: Did the other personclearly understand what I intended to communicate?
Have you ever read a letter from an attorney and had no clue
what half of it meant? Or shopped for a computer and felt like
you only understood a fraction of what the salesperson told you,
as if he was speaking another language? How about sitting
through a presentation where the speaker constantly referred to
industry terms for which you were sure you were the only one
who didnt know the meaning? How did these experiences make
you feel?
Most of us feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, and even
ignorant when placed in these situations, as if were somehow
lacking because we cant understand what the other person is
trying to get across to us. Using my barometer for effectiveness,Id call these attempts at communication failures; and Id put the
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responsibility for that squarely on the shoulders of the author,
salesperson, or speaker.
If the purpose of communication is for people to understand
each other, then why do writers and speakers so often choose to
use complicated words when simpler ones will do, or insist on
using language thats particular to their own industry, or
sometimes even their own company? Sadly, I believe the answer
is selfishnessa focus on ourselves and our own agenda versus
the audience and their needs. Communicating to be understood
begins with shifting that focus away from ourselves and to our
audience.
Here are some guidelines for communicating in a way that
others can understand:
1. Know your audience. This is probably the most
important rule. If your goal is for your audience to understand
you, then you need to choose words and descriptions that willmake sense to them. If Im a computer whiz, I need to use
entirely different language speaking to a convention of network
administrators than I do speaking to someone who barely knows
how to turn their computer on. If Im an attorney, I need to
write differently arguing a brief for a judge than I do sending a
letter to a client. Its not about me and my ability to impress
people; rather, I need to check my ego at the door (rememberFundamental #2) and focus on the needs of my audience.
2. Dont use industry (or internal) jargon. Every industry
has its unique languagewords with which others in your
industry are completely familiar, but those outside your industry
dont know. And every company has its own set of acronyms,
abbreviations, and internal code speak thats foreign to outsiders.
When were absorbed in our own world, we forget that everyone
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Communicate to be understood 117
else doesnt necessarily speak our language. Get into the world
of your audience and speak their language.
3. Define your terms. Sometimes its simply too
cumbersome to explain everything without using any industry
terms at all. In these cases, its entirely acceptable to use those
terms, provided you define them for your audience first. Let me
give you an example.
My company would frequently lead open enrollment
meetings for employers where we would be responsible forexplaining the employee benefit offerings to their employees.
The audience would be composed of every type of employee at
every educational level. You can imagine that the insurance
industry has a language all its own, and its one that tends to
intimidate many people.
It can be difficult to explain how a plan works without using
a single insurance term, so its often necessary to use someterms, but only after defining them. I might say something like,
In this plan, you choose a doctor who will be the one to
coordinate all of your care. We call this person a Primary Care
Physician, or sometimes a PCP. From here forward, its OK
for me to use the term PCP because Ive explained what it
means. Try to avoid using industry- or company-specific
language, but if you must, be aware that youre doing so anddefine the terms first.
4. Use the simplest possible language. If two different
words or phrases will work equally well, use the simpler one. In
our industry, I used to hear insurance carrier reps talk to
employee groups about what you have to do when you need to
access care. Now I dont know about you, but I never access
care. I go to the doctor! Big words arent necessarily moreimpressive or effective. Speak (and write) simply and plainly.
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A great example of this practice is the For Dummies
series. While I dont particularly like the inference that anyone
who doesnt understand technical information is a dummy, thebooks are beautifully done. Theyve tapped into this whole
recognition that we ought to be able to explain almost anything
in simple terms that anyone can understand, and theyre
tremendously effective at doing it.
5. When writing, use short paragraphs, subtitles, and
bullet points whenever possible. Have you ever noticed how
intimidating long paragraphs can be? Long paragraphs often
look too complicated and include too much information. Break
what you want to say into smaller, bite-size chunks that are easier
for your reader to grasp. Subtitles also serve to separate and
announce ideas so that your reader can digest them more easily.
Notice how Ive tried to use both of these suggestionsthroughout this book.
Recently I was asked to meet with an organization wanting to
put a new 401k plan in place. Its very common for new companiesto want this kind of retirement plan, but there are many pitfalls
they need to be aware of prior to doing so. The biggest obstacle is
typically the discrimination testing required on 401k plans, and the
rules can be somewhat complex. I knew that in going through this,
I could easily get caught up in all the industry jargon (ADP/ACP
tests, HCEs, NHCE, etc.).
As I prepared to meet with the executive team, I thought about
this Fundamental and the importance of keeping my explanation as
simple as possible. By using plain English and avoiding all thetechnical terms, I was able to help the team understand the essence
of the rules and what we needed to do to ensure success. In the end,
we were able to put a plan in place that met the needs of both the
organization and the staff.
-Nate T.
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Another way to make information easier to understand is to
use bullet-pointed lists. Often, I can more quickly grasp your
main ideas if you give them tome in a list than if I have to
glean them from several long
paragraphs of text.
6. Use a Q&A format
whenever possible. One of
the most effective ways to get
a large body of information
across is to create a Q&A
format. This enables you to
identify the key questions
your audience is likely to
have, and to answer them in a
clear and concise way. More
and more, were beginning tosee companies publish
Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQs) in owners manuals,
on websites, and in other
documentation. Where
appropriate, its helpful to
break these questions intogroupings by topic. This
makes it even easier for the
reader to quickly find the
information hes looking for.
7. Provide your
audience with a filing
system. Imagine that youremy new executive assistant,
In my role as a compliance
consultant, one of my primary
jobs is taking complex,
technical concepts and
explaining them to our clients
in a way that they can easily
understand. I do this partly by
using simple language, but I
also do it by how I organize the
information I want to convey.
In 2008, the Department of
Labor (DOL) issued revised
final regulations for the Family
Medical Leave Act (FMLA). It
was 201 pages of mostly
unnecessary verbiage; and my
teams task was to summarize
it in a way that was useful forour clients. We organized the
material into 16 topic-specific
sections, each having a plain
English summary, real life
examples, and specific action
steps for complianceand we
did it all in 9 pages!
It felt good when one of our
clients told us that it was themost helpful FMLA summary
they had received from any
source, including their law
firm, their HR association, and
other consulting firms. That
was exactly the feedback we
were aiming for!
-Kara B.
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and one of your jobs is to file away all of my papers so that I can
easily access them when I need them. No system exists yet, and
on your first day I dump a stack of hundreds of variousunlabeled papers on your desk with instructions to get them filed
by the end of the day. How effective are you likely to be?
I think of my audience in the same way. Im going to be
feeding you bits of information as I speak. As you listen, your
brain is trying to organize the various bits of information and
determine how they relate to each other and where to put them.
If you have no idea where Im going, this is terribly difficult to
do. However, if I first explain to you what Ill be covering, in
what order, and how the pieces will ultimately come together,
then youll know how to file what Im giving you as I progress
through the talk.
In a book, typically the Introduction and the Table of
Contents together become the filing system. They tell you whatto expect and help you to see how each piece fits into the whole.
With this in mind, its easier to understand the material youre
reading.
Notice the common denominator in all of my guidelines?
Theyre all about serving your audience. And after all, isnt that
the purpose of communication?
When I was in sales, I was successful for one primary
reasonpeople trusted me. And what built that trust more
quickly than anything else was my ability to explain insurance to
people in a way that was unintimidating and easy to understand.
Think about how we feel when people speak over our head.
Because we dont completely comprehend what theyre saying,
we often dont trust them. At the very least, were uncomfortable
and prefer not to do business with them. But when we can easily
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understand them, especially when the topic is complex, we feel
as if were in good hands.
I always told our people that one of the greatest compliments
you can get is when a prospect or client says to you, Wow. I
never understood it so clearly before! Thats when you know
you were able to communicate to be understood.