Been to any good conferences lately? Did you come away with some useful information you could put into practice? Then, you were in the presence of a good communicator. Someone who knew his or her audience, knew their needs, and knew how to match his or her knowledge to those needs.
Communication often is described as a soft skill. Yet it is the very means by which we share information, make change known, institute new policies, and sell services and products.
Think about it. How much of your day is spent reviewing proposals, reading documents, and exchanging information on the telephone or in meetings? An American Management Association survey shows that the average executive spends four hours each day reading correspondence and reports. A total of 80 percent of the executives surveyed also reported that much of that time is wasted because of poor organization and wordiness.
Communication is not merely a skill; it's the agent by which we make things happen. And to make things happen, you have to communicate effectively. True, there are those who possess a special ability, a talent even, for making words sing. Yet effective communication remains within the reach of all.
Know Your Audience
When speaking or writing, our natural inclination -- more often than not -- is to focus on the message we want to convey. The more effective strategy, however, is to first consider your audience. What is their educational level? How much do they already know about the subject at hand? What needs do they have in common? In other words, what information do you have that they would be interested in hearing?
For example, someone doesn't buy a circular saw just because they want the saw. A person buys it for the work it performs. As a manufacturer of circular saws, you might be inclined to focus on the quality of the manufacturing process or the length of your warranty. A better method, however, is to talk to people about what the saw can do for them. Let them see how it will help build the deck they have been dreaming of, remodel the bathroom, construct a tree house for their kids.
Focus on the You, Not the We
When crafting your message, it pays to focus the details on the "you," not the "we." When offering a new service, a "we" focus would talk about how proud we are to expand into a new market area. A "you" focus, on the other hand, highlights the benefits the new service will bring to your clients. Consider the following two sentences.
We Focus
As part of our ongoing efforts to improve and build upon our range of services, we are now offering financial planning services to our clients.You Focus
As a parent of young children, you probably are wondering how best to save for their college education. By taking advantage of our new financial planning services, you can develop a plan that works for your family.
Show, Don't Tell
No one likes to be lectured to, but everyone likes a good story with solid facts and information they can share with others. To be convincing, you need to support your message with concrete examples. You can use testimonials, a personal anecdote or statistics. Again, consider these two examples.
Telling
To improve your retention of top employees, consider offering your staff more than the traditional benefit plans.Showing
A survey by William M. Mercer Inc., a global employee benefit consulting firm, found 74 percent of those surveyed consider flex-time an attractive benefit.
Keep It Simple
Another common mistake in communications, most specifically in written communications, is the idea that if you use more words, people will believe you. The exact opposite is true. Short, concise sentences not only sound more convincing, they are easier to remember. Look at the following to see which gets its point across most clearly.
Wordy
One of the major goals of our organization is to increase awareness of the value of the CPA and the services CPAs provide to businesses and individuals, and to offer CPAs the resources they need to enhance their professional development. (40 words)
Concise
Our goal is to increase awareness about the value of the services provided by CPAs and to serve as a resource for their ongoing professional development. (26 words)
Know Your Audience; Focus on the You; Show, Don't Tell; Keep It Simple -- using these four principles alone, you should notice an immediate change in the impact of your communications. Naturally, there is always more to learn. To learn more about effective communications, a concise and helpful guide is "The Elements of Style," by William Struck Jr. and E.B. White.
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