Be Clear and Know Your Audience

I have spent the last few months presenting to colleagues all over Canada about marketing professional services and the benefits of clear communication. After the sessions there is always a lot of conversation where I do a lot more listening than speaking.

One story that was shared resonated so clearly with me that I have been sharing it ever since.

A client told my colleague that he needed a dictionary to figure out what he was trying to say in an email. This got a good chuckle out our group but it showed that by trying to impress a client with his vocabulary the message actually failed to be delivered. The client has a similar background and training so you can imagine if the message had been forwarded to someone with a different skill set they would have been completely lost.

I have heard the average person receives 1,800 messages a day (I suggest this is a conservative number). If this is true, than most of us do not have time to use a dictionary to figure out a message.

Communication is fairly easy when broken down – be clear, concise and understand your audience.