Communication is among the most important skills in today’s business world. A 2016 Fast Company article listed “Strong Communication Skills” as the seventh[1] most important skill for career success (one spot ahead of “Understanding of Analytics”).
Your strategies, data, analyses, ideas, and initiatives are worthless if others can’t understand them. And, even if others do understand you, you still can’t create value until you’ve gotten buy-in and support. Understanding is one thing. Action and results are another.
Overly complicated communication is one of the biggest problems that I see in the workplace. People are being bombarded with way too much complexity. I see presentations that people can’t follow, analyses they can’t understand, and emails that don’t clearly make a point.
If you want people to understand you, communicate simply and clearly.
I’ve got a simple tip. I call it The 1:1:1 Rule:
One point per sentence (or bullet)
I know this sounds obvious. Surprisingly though, I often see multiple ideas crammed into a single sentence.
Keep your sentence short.
Instead of saying:
Despite a slow start, sales of product X have done quite well accounting for 50% of all revenue growth except in Latin America where its growth was relatively stagnant.
Simplify to one idea per sentence:
Sales of product X have done quite well. They accounted for 50% of all revenue growth last year. This was despite a slow start. The only area where product X did not drive growth was in Latin America where revenue remained flat.
Although it’s longer, it’s faster and easier to read (faster because you don’t have to re-read it two or three times to understand it).
One idea per paragraph (or slide)
A paragraph or slide should make a single point. Think back to your high school English class. A good paragraph has a topic sentence and then some supporting points.
One thing that confuses your audience is when multiple ideas get mixed together in a single paragraph. Here’s a simple tip that many good writers use. Review your document/email by only reading the first sentence of each paragraph. If it doesn’t flow, there is a good chance that you changed focus or introduced a new idea in the middle of a paragraph. Split that out.
The same is true for slides. I often see slides that have multiple graphs/charts on them. There are too many points to process simultaneously:
- A point about the first graph
- A point about the second graph
- A conclusion based on the points from the two graphs.
Simplify. Create one slide for each graph that clearly states the take-away (just showing a graph is not a take-away). Then create a third slide that provides your overall conclusion with the two take-aways as support.
One decision/action/recommendation per presentation
This one is probably the most difficult. It’s hard to focus an entire presentation on just one thing. Of course, that’s what makes many presentations tedious and ineffective.
A good presentation should tell a story. Just like in fictional stories, too many plot lines, characters, or events create confusion.
Resist the temptation to “boil the ocean” in a single presentation.
Start simple. Think about what you want people to say/do/believe after your presentation. Then lay out the simplest storyline from where they are now to where you want them to be. Anything that doesn’t directly support your story should go into the appendix.
Keep it simple
Good communication is simple and focused. This doesn’t mean it is superficial. The most effective leaders I’ve seen are those who can take complex ideas or information and make it simple.
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Brad Kolar is a consultant, speaker, and author with Avail Advisors. Avail can help you simplify your problems, decisions, data, and communication. Contact Brad at brad.kolar@availadvisors.com
[1] I’d even argue that at least half of the skills that scored higher on their list (i.e., Ability to manage a diverse environment, effective conflict resolution, ability to successfully outsource) cannot be accomplished without excellent communication skills.
