How well do you manage to be understood by your new employees, your boss or your colleagues? A leader experiences several communication situations in which he or she needs to popularize information.
Being a good popularizer increases one’s credibility and influence. And on a daily basis: popularizing information makes it easier to be understood!
Do you prefer the video format? There he is.
Here are 3 keys to be able to better popularize information:
1. Be concise
Limit the details
Are you an expert, do you like details? Are you burning to explain everything?
Is this really the need of your interlocutor?
The invitation is to emphasize the details that serve the understanding in general. There are fewer of them than you might think.
Reducing the details is NOT to impoverish the content. It is a question of placing one’s discourse within the reach of the other.
If we have trouble following you, it will not help with understanding at all, will it?
Too much information kills information.
Repeating the information
I observe that some people, in order to make themselves understood, repeat themselves, or repeat the same thing in different words.
STOP! Your speech will be boring, confusing, and maybe even awkward. Even if this is not your intention.
Some people may even mistake being told the same thing over and over again as condescending, as if they were assuming they couldn’t understand the first time.
In order to be concise… Keep only relevant information and name it once.
Sometimes someone tells me about their colleague and adds multiple details about the said colleague: their family situation, where they live, the number of years they have been with the team… but… Why the colleague’s biography? Or the history of the last 15 years of the file in detail?
I’m not saying that the context is bad. It is essential and part of communication skills, but when a sentence starts with: “You ABSOLUTELY need all the history, you will not understand otherwise…” There is no harm, but you meet YOUR need more than the need of the other.
So what can you do to be more concise?
Validate the right details to give. That is, the ones that the RECEIVER of your communication needs, and ideally in their communication style.
Keep in mind that in order to be concise in order to popularize the information, you must prepare your communication:
1- What do you want your interviewer to remember? What is your goal? Or what are you being asked to do?
2- What does your interlocutor need to know about the context?
Then, validate the understanding with the interlocutor and ask what other information would be relevant. So, add more! But your introduction should only be 3-5 sentences maximum!
The article on communication skills talks about communication styles and the funnel tool. Here it is. It will help you target your message to your interlocutor.
2. Have a focus on understanding others
In the middle of action, trying to be concise and structure your thoughts can be a great challenge!
Take your time.
So, rather than talking to fill the void while you structure your thinking at the same time, I invite you to say:
“Wait a minute, there are a lot of elements in this situation, what do you want to know exactly? I’ll make sure to communicate what you need. »
We always circumscribe the goal!
And we try to understand what the other needs to know.
To do this, it is a matter of being curious, asking questions, and then adjusting the level of detail needed.
To popularize information, you need to focus on what the other person needs to understand in order to achieve your goal.
Having a focus on the other person requires empathy. How do you get it, even if you don’t want to? (Admit it, it can happen, right?) Here’s an article to help you out.
3. Be as concrete as possible.
Which of these two examples is clearer and more understandable?
Example 1
A-We have an improvement in speed.
B-We have tripled the speed, so that the response is now 1 second instead of 3 seconds.
Answer: B
Example 2
A-We have adjusted to the ABC456 standards and it is giving good results.
B-We have adjusted to the quality standards of our field of expertise. We have a 3-step quality assurance process in place at the end of the production line. We are already seeing results! We have increased the quality by 20%.
Answer: B
In other words, the more concrete you are, the more your message will be accessible to a large number of people without them knowing your field of activity or having to search the Internet following your conversation!
4. Have visuals, metaphors, stories.
If you’re giving a presentation, use visuals – photos, or graphics.
If you have a very technical job, and you don’t want to go into detail, but signal to your boss that you’ve passed a level or an important milestone, you could use a sports or video game analogy (depending on who you talk to).
- It’s as if, in the hurdle race, we had skipped half the course!
- It’s like we’ve made it halfway through Mario Bros. Tier 1, a bit out of breath, but the team is very motivated to complete this stage and ready to beat the dragon!
The best way to simplify information is to be concise, focus on the needs and understanding of your interlocutor, be as concrete as possible and use visuals, metaphors or stories.
Tip for the brave
If you really want to improve your communication, both verbal and non-verbal, I invite you to register! Yes!
Have a presentation to make? Practice yourself, record yourself with your phone or computer. Not everyone dares to do this, but it’s such an effective exercise that you’ll probably only do it once!
You deserve to be understood! Which of the 4 points could you develop as a priority?