Читать книгу Simply Said - Sullivan Jay - Страница 8

Limit your key message to one sentence, preferably fewer than 10 words long. Because so many complex business documents are written in long, complex sentences, we have trained ourselves to think in large chunks of information. While that is arguably necessary in written documents, it isn’t helpful or effective when conveying messages orally. Consider breaking the content into smaller sentences to help your listeners.

If we talk for 20 minutes in a meeting, our audience will remember only a few essential comments. The audience needs to be able to grasp your message quickly and efficiently. The key question is: “Will my audience be able to repeat this message to someone else after this meeting?” If it’s unlikely that listeners will be able to do so because the message is too long, too vague, or too difficult, it is unlikely you will have the impact you desire.

Read the following aloud:

Everyone’s active participation in the bank’s events is crucial to helping us develop a conscious and cohesive firm culture that we can all be proud of and that will help us attract high-quality associates.

Now, turn your head away from the paper and repeat the statement you just read.

You can’t do it, right? It’s too long. You have to translate what it means to you.

Now try the same with the next sentence:

We hope to see you at as many firm functions as possible.

You are probably able to repeat that sentence easily because the message stands on its own. Save the “why” and the details for separate sentences. Those sentences help me buy into your idea, but they are separate from the idea itself. Give your audience a simple concept to grasp and convey to others.

You may want to consider bringing closure to this issue in the near future before the economic situation changes drastically enough that the fundamental reasons for structuring the deal as we have envisioned it no longer exist.

By the time the speaker finishes that sentence, the audience has forgotten the key message. It’s simply too much for a listener to digest in one gulp.

We need to close the deal soon.

That statement is clear and direct.