"It's Not Valuable if We Don't Understand It": Breakthrough Communicators Tip #15

Hello everyone,

Christopher Peck with Speak Into Action Communications.

Before I started Speak Into Action, I was a theatre professor at the University of South Alabama. Part of my academic responsibility was theatre scholarship, and believe me, if there was a five-syllable word that fit the article I was writing, I used it. 

But changing careers didn't change my need to use five-syllable language. And even though I was responsible for teaching others to communicate their needs more effectively, the language I chose made it a struggle to communicate my own value.

Breakthrough Communicators have ideas, feelings, and needs we want to share with others. Those ideas have influence because we've demonstrated ourselves as a trusted relationship and built genuine rapport with our other.

But we can run the risk of undermining that trust, rapport, and value if we don't commit to this Breakthrough Communicator skill:

Keep

It

Simple

Drop the jargon, drop the language only you understand, and don't overwhelm others with too much information.

If you want to be understood, you must keep your value, needs, and ideas succinct, simple-to-follow, and direct.

Remember, people have short attention spans. They are not going to stay engaged if they don't understand what you're saying.  Individuals also retain only one to three pieces of information from any given conversation or presentation. So there's no value in too much information.

Set yourself and your other up for success by keeping it simple.

—This is what I want you to do.

—This is how I need your help.

—This is the value I bring.

By keeping it simple, Breakthrough Communicators build deeper, more meaningful personal and professional relationships.

So practice this week.

In one sentence:

How do you help others?

What kind of people do you want to meet and add to your community?

What is your big idea?

Build and demonstrate confidence, get precise with your messaging, and keep other engaged by...

Keeping it simple.

Thanks for reading everyone, like comment, and share with current and aspiring Breakthrough Communicators.

This is Christopher Peck with Speak Into Action Communications; helping businesses perform better, by training better performers.

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