fundamental #13 communicate to be understood

8/6/2019 Fundamental #13 Communicate to be understood.

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115

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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118 FUNDAMENTAL #13

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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120 FUNDAMENTAL #13

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.

fundamental #13 communicate to be understood

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