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Power of Effective Explanation |
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Wednesday July 16, 2008
Topic: Effective Communication
Reference: Sun, Calvin. “10 Ways To Explain Things More Effectively”. Global Knowledge. http://www.globalknowledge.com/training. July 15, 2008.
As I continue to push for the completion of critical strategic projects prior to the end of the fiscal year, it occurs to me that those in leadership positions should constantly strive to improve effective communications within their organizations. The power of improved explanations can have a profound impact on an organization. A really good explanation can help to inspire people, avoid wasted time, and make the difficult seem more possible. In the featured article the commentator amplifies this theme and lays out 10 steps to more effective explanation. They are in order: (1) keep in mind others’ point of view; (2) listen and respond to questions; (3) avoid talking over people’s heads; (4) avoid talking down to people; (5) ask questions to determine people’s understanding; (6) focus on benefits, not features; (7) use analogies to make concepts clearer; (8) compare new concepts to old ones; (9) use the concepts of subsets and supersets; and (10) confirm that your explanation makes sense. These are all sensible recommendations. I particularly like to use analogies (#7) to explain and make points. I use product stories, sports, and popular culture to make points that resonate. The point about confirming your explanation makes sense (#10). However, I find that people are hesitant to say that they still do not understand. As a result, I try to gage from eye contact whether the lights really came on. I also try to get someone else to summarize the point just in case another style would work better. Either way I find that improving explanations is well worth the effort. I am interested in hearing how others improve explanations as well.
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