We all use technology to communicate; to send and receive emails and texts, to deliver PowerPoint presentations, to talk on the phone and to share conference calls. New technologies may have helped to make communication more accessible and convenient. But what are the rules around what to say and how to say it?
There’s only one rule and it’s the same whether you are talking face-to-face, speaking in public or writing a letter – clearly and concisely. You say what you mean and do it in a way that makes it easy for other people to listen and to understand what you mean.
Try and be aware of the impact that tone, pitch, emphasis and pace can have on what you say and the extent to which the other person will understand. Do you, for example, need to slow down? Perhaps you normally speak quite quickly? Or perhaps you tend to speed up when you’re nervous, excited or stressed. Whatever the situation, slowing down will help you feel more in control and make it more likely that the other person can follow what you’re saying.
Top tip: Listen to good speakers. Former President Obama is a master of the pause, using it frequently to allow others time to take in what he is saying. He slows down, lowers his volume and pauses for impact. At other times he speeds up his pace and raises the volume of his voice to underscore a key sentence.
Be aware of when you use filler words, such as ‘um’, ‘you know’, and ‘right’. If you overuse them, they become irritating for the listener and distract from what you’re saying. And if you’re hoping to come across as confident, authoritative or persuasive, ums and ahs will have the opposite effect; they’ll undermine and weaken what you’re saying.
What to do? Try replacing fillers with pauses. Of course, even the briefest pause can feel like an interminable silence, but well-placed pauses can make you sound calm and collected. If, when you’re speaking, you lose your train of thought, a pause gives you time to get back on track. As long as the pause isn’t too long (no more than three seconds) it won’t come across as strange or unnatural.
Top tip: Practice replacing filler words with pauses; describe out loud what you did from the beginning to the end of yesterday. Practice using pauses instead of filler words as you recall the events.
Jargon uses words and phrases that are unique to a small group of people – usually in a particular job or profession – as a kind of shorthand. Jargon is OK when it represents a concise way of saying something to people who can make sense of it, but you need to put yourself in the place of the listener and explain yourself in ordinary words if you think they may not understand.
Avoid, too, using gobbledygook terms such as ‘citizen empowerment’ for ‘people power’, ‘slippage’ rather than ‘delay.’ It’s not clever – it’s contrived and confusing.
Whatever the setting and no matter how clear and concise you feel you are, sometimes you can’t be sure if the other person has understood. Instead of rattling on, simply ask ‘What do you think?’ or ‘How does that sound?’
Just as you do when you're talking to someone, when you put something in writing you need to make it easy for the other person – the reader – to understand you. When you're talking with another person – in person or on the phone – you can get an immediate response from that person, and if there are any obvious misunderstandings you will be able to clarify what you mean. But when you communicate in writing this doesn’t necessarily happen, so you need to be even more sure to make your meaning clear.
Be aware that the other person’s perspective, situation and knowledge concerning the subject matter might be different from yours. What do they already know or not know about what or who you’re talking about? Do they know why you’re talking about this?
Top tip: The Plain English Campaign www.plainenglish.co.uk has two software packages: Drivel Defence for Text and Drivel Defence for Web – these will help you check the use of plain English. Both programs can give you a detailed report on your use of Plain English, but neither makes any changes. This leaves you in control.
grammarly.com is also useful; it’s a free writing app that makes your messages, documents and posts clear, mistake-free and effective.
Gill Hasson is a careers coach and teacher for mental health organisations, and also the bestselling author of Communication: How to Connect with Anyone published by Capstone