FUNDAMENTAL #13
Communicate to be understood.
Know your audience. Write and speak in a way that they can understand. Use the simplest possible explanation.
Heres
a simple question: Whats the purpose of
communication? 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 person clearly 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 will make 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 (remember Fundamental #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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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 for explaining 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 some terms, 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 and define 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 more impressive 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, the books 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.
Recently I was asked to meet with an organization wanting to put a new 401k plan in place. Its very common for new companies to 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 the technical 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.
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 suggestions throughout this book.
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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 to me in a list than if I have to In my role as a compliance consultant, one of my primary glean them from several long jobs is taking complex, 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 to see companies publish Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) in owners manuals, on websites, and in other documentation. Where appropriate, its helpful to break these questions into groupings 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 youre my new executive assistant,
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 for our 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 the most 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 various unlabeled 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 what to 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.
