How to Communicate With Impact

We start this series by looking at what you can do to get faster and more helpful responses from your audience.

Have you heard of the Curse of Knowledge?

It's the gap between what is in our heads and what is on the page. We read what we think is there while our audience reads what is actually there.

A Stanford University graduate psychology student Elizabeth Newton illustrated this phenomenon in her 1990 study.

She designed a simple game in which she assigned people to be either a 'tapper' or a 'listener'. Here is how it worked:

• Tappers picked a well known song (eg Happy Birthday) and tapped out the rhythm on the table.

• Listeners were asked to guess the song.

Here's what she found: The gap between expectation and reality was startling.

• Tappers predicted a 50% likelihood that the listeners would guess their song.

• Listeners guessed only 3 songs, or 2.5%, correctly.

So, what happens when we present busy stakeholders with our communication?

They make a choice as to whether they push through to interpret it, reject it outright or ask you to rework to close the knowledge gap for them. You can see this in the results from the survey I conducted (see the results in the downloads).

Unfortunately the gap between what audiences and authors think about important communication is significant.

This module offers techniques to help you close this gap and get faster responses from your decision makers.

What is happening around your decision makers while they are reading your communication?

Are they ...

1. In their happy place with zero distractions and all the time in the world to navigate in and out of your analysis before drawing their own conclusions?

2. Under pressure to action your insight before diving into their next meeting?

The answer's pretty obvious I think, but knowing how to engage pressured leaders is far from straightforward.

This module offers practical ideas to help you overcome this challenge.

In one of our recent Clarity First working session we helped one of our members think through how to give feedback to a colleague about an important business case.

The challenges were multiple:

1. How to draw out the messages that would create a compelling case

2. How far to go when helping a peer, particularly when you don't know them well

3. How much to cut out altogether

4. What should go into the appendix

Today's video offers ideas on how to convey the right amount of detail. Remember to download the notes for your future use too.

You may wonder why someone who helps people communicate complex ideas talks about thinking skills quite so much.

You might wonder even more why problem solving is on the agenda.

What do both of these things have to do with communication?

I guarantee they are central to getting better and faster results through your communication. They

1. Help you draw out the right message from complex ideas, especially when you are too close to the detail

2. Make it easier and faster for your audience to respond because the ideas are well organised and backed up sufficiently

3. Lead to many more of your good ideas getting the traction they deserve.

This module builds on the past three to offer ideas that will help you cut through with your decision makers.

The more I work with clients the more I am convinced that we can only deliver high-quality insights if we have a high-quality briefing.

I have some crude numbers that suggest that the vast bulk (80%?) of professionals are not satisfied with the briefing they receive from leaders.

I will test those numbers, but for now want to offer an interview with some ideas to help.

I interviewed my colleague Clement after seeing him in action helping a client, as he put it 'get a clear brief without being kicked out of his boss's office'.

I hope you enjoy this interview and find ways to put Clem's ideas into practice in your own work.