Clarity is the quality of being easily understood. For many professionals, however, clarity is not easily achieved, despite their best efforts to speak clearly and with intention.
Do you struggle with speaking clearly and connecting with others? If so, the first step for you to tackle this barrier is to first give thoughtful consideration to and identify what stands in your way of clearly communicating an idea or concept so that it is understood and resonates with others. While there are numerous factors that could impact your ability to speak clearly and connect with your audience, the three most common culprits that I see others struggle with that often stand in the way and prevent them from speaking clearly – yet are often overlooked or ignored – include:
1) Your passion for a topic, issue, or cause
While passion and enthusiasm are infectious and admirable, when it is not reigned in, it can actually be your biggest enemy when trying to connect with others. For passionate professionals who are extremely enthusiastic about a particular topic, issue, or cause, their “world” is so simple and easy to understand, and they cannot fathom why when they communicate “no one gets it.” They have so many ideas and perspectives to share and they want to share them, yet their comments often fall on the deaf ears of those who are not versed in their area of expertise as the comments are full of jargon, examples, and acronyms that make no sense to someone from the outside. Additionally, passionate professionals are often so enthusiastic about their topic, they will jump from idea to idea, which may come across to others as if they are rambling.
2) Me, Myself, and I
On the most fundamental level, messages are what allow you to connect with others and to help you get what you want. When your message is all about you and every sentence starts with “I”, however, it immediately causes others to tune you out. They need to know why they should care about what you are saying. An outstanding communicator tells the audience what is important but says it in a way that is important to the audience so they remember, understand, and act.
3) One Size Fits All
Despite the fact that the more tailored a message is to an audience the more it will likely resonate, professionals often ignore this sage advice and instead adopt a one-size fits all approach when crafting messages. They create one message regarding a specific topic and use it for every audience that they may encounter. For instance, I was working with an entrepreneur who had an amazing idea for a new service. He was trying to figure out why – despite the fabulousness of his idea – he could not get the attention of potential investors, potential customers, or the media. When I asked to hear his pitch for each audience, he said that he only had one message, which when he shared it with me, clearly missed the mark for each audience. Investors want to know how their money is going to spent wisely and guarantee a return, customers want to know how the service is going to make their life better, and the media wants to know what makes the service unique and why the world should know about it. As simple as this concept is, you would be surprised by the number of people who refuse to customize their messages.
Do any or all of these communication behaviors sound familiar? If so, congratulations! Only once you become aware of what may be holding you back can you begin to address it. Acknowledging what is standing in your way is very important first step. If you really want to make change and begin speaking more clearly, the second step will be committing to changing the communication behaviors that are holding you back. If you are guilty of more than one of the behaviors, choose one and focus on it first. You will not see change overnight, and it may at times seem uncomfortable, but with time you will find that you are connecting with others and getting the desired response from your interactions with others.
Susanne Crawford is an executive communication coach, author , and international speaker who is passionate about helping others advance their careers by sharing their ideas with the world. As a leading communication expert, Susanne wrote the book entitled Simply OutSTANDing™ Communicator: Speak with confidence + clarity to get what you want, in which she details Simply OutSTANDing™, a simple six‐step communication approach that she created to help prepare others to be ready + confident + focused + heard when the time is right for them to speak. For more information, visit www.simplyoutstanding.co or follow her at @execcommcoach.
