Good communication, duh.

Good communication, duh.

Getting communication right is a no-brainer. 

In an async, distributed, work-from-anywhere era, it’s especially true. Everyone agrees. According to Grammarly/ Harris Poll’s State of Business Communication Report, nine out of ten executives agree “communication is the backbone of business,” and “effective communication is essential for delivering business results.”

What was the tenth executive thinking? No one knows.

No alt text provided for this image

The noise problem.

Communication: you can’t have too much.

Leaders have taken this to heart. Their mantra is to communicate, communicate, communicate. And yes, some communication is better than no communication. But too much becomes a sea of noise. Awash in competing communication, it’s critical to cut through the clutter. 

Meet overwhelmed Bob. 

Overwhelmed Bob is a proxy for your audience. He’s a character that may be on the front line, in the call center, at a retail location, or in the field. Bob’s day job is as a supervisor. He manages a team of ten. And he gets many messages; from HR, from his boss, from operations, from finance. He gets texts and phone calls. His email box fills. He’s on Slack, but that isn’t helping. 

He’s overwhelmed.

No alt text provided for this image

Bob’s condition — Overwhelmia Communicata —is one of modern work.

It’s a paradox: when there is so much messaging, how do you cut through the noise?

You need Bob’s attention.

The answer to the attention problem is story.

Story, according to writer Jonathan Gotschall, is a trick for sneaking information into the fortified citadel of the human mind.

No alt text provided for this image

This isn’t just metaphorically true; it’s neuroscientifically true.

According to neuroscientist Paul Zak , the narratives that cause us to pay attention, and involve us emotionally, move us to action. They release oxytocin in the brain. And oxytocin helps us learn. Oxytocin is the key to the fortified citadel. In her book, The Leading Brain, neuroscientist Friederike Fabritius points out how the key works. “Rather than simply encouraging new learned behavior, oxytocin aids us in forgetting old learned behavior.”

Tell a story, and you have Bob’s attention.

Your story frames how people see the world and moves them to action.

A story is simple.

It’s memorable. It’s relevant: your audience sees themselves in the picture. Your story has an emotional hook. It has meat. And the payoff will move people to action.

No alt text provided for this image

Are you saying my 100-page PowerPoint deck isn’t a ‘narrative’?

Yes.

“Just put it on one slide.”

I hear that a lot. 

People take the request literally. A seven-slide presentation magically shrinks. Fonts get smaller. Eyes strain. White space disappears. A thousand words, previously spread across seven slides, shrinks to nine-hundred and fifty. They’re in eight-point font, and I can’t read them. I don’t want to.

The point is missed.

The point of “just put it on one slide” was not a paper-saving request. It was a request to clarify your message. To cut. To prioritize. To make it simple.

To get to the point.

No alt text provided for this image

“I need more detail.”

Another misunderstood request.

The request is not, “I need every detail.” But seven slides bloom to fifty. An appendix of spare thoughts appears. The “more detail” request is one of two things. The obvious one is that you have left out what your audience considers relevant. The less apparent reason is that your audience is not tracking to your thinking. Either way, you don’t have a “detail” problem. 

You just haven’t figured out your audience.

No alt text provided for this image

Good communication is in reading the tea leaves.

The T-leaf is a tool we use over and over again.

The T-leaf is a starting point. A way to get at what your audience needs. A way to put in the right amount of detail and still tell a simple story. It’s a way to grab Bob’s attention without overwhelming him. It’s the platform on which to build your story.

The T-leaf is a line, splitting a piece of paper in two.

On the one side is “what I want.” It’s what you want your audience to feel, know, and do. On the other side is “what they want.” What the audience wants to feel (or how they are feeling), what they want to know, and what they might be prepared to do. 

The “feel, know, do” are critical.

So much communication is an information dump — what I want you to know. But that can’t be a story. You want to sneak that information into the fortified citadel of the human mind. How do you want them to feel? What might they be feeling? Emotion is key to the story. 

When it comes to “know,” a rule of thumb is to make it three things. What do you want them to know? That’s how you simplify. This pays off the “put it all on one slide” request because you can now prioritize and edit.

But what if what they want to know differs? More editing, and avoiding the “need more detail” trap. You have to tell them what they want to know. In doing so, you might drop some of what you want them to know. It just isn’t as important.

And last, do.

Remember, we’re trying to frame the way people see the world. But just crafting a narrative, giving people information, is half the story. You want them to do something. So make the request clear. Ask the ask.

No alt text provided for this image

That’s how you break the simplify/ more detail paradox. That’s how you grab Bob’s attention. That’s how you break through.

...

What do you think?

...

Gavin.

If you would like to read more of our thinking on #leadership or #storytelling and how it can change the way you work, check out fassforward.com/ourthinking

...

Worth the time.

Rose Fass's next book is coming. The Leadership Conversation - Make Bold Change, One Conversation At A Time. Click here to find out more.

Why Inspiring Stories Make us React: The Neuroscience of Narrative, by Paul Zak. (Source: Cerebrum)

How to build your network quickly, by Frank Mazza

Ash Kanagat

Chief AI Geek at Bain & Company

2y

Great article, Gavin. Communication is a skill. If you're not naturally gifted, learn it. In a personal journey to improve, some points below come to mind. Simple and obvious but worth revisiting. - Know the subject (Don't present someone else's message. Make it your own) - Know the audience (This is the single point of failure for most presenters) - Communicate at the level of the audience (Some want a summary, others detail. You explained it well). - Read the audience if it's a live setting. Adapt. If you lose the connection, exit swiftly. Every extra minute lowers your credibility and dilutes the message. Live to communicate another day! - Adapt to your setting. If you are in the military, communicate like you are ordering at Starbucks. If you're a lawyer, build the case and arrive at the result. If you're a consultant, state the result first, and show diligence and detail afterward. And... reread Gavin's article. One abstract that popped out for me is 'emotion.' I would love more dialogue on it.

Frank Mazza

Business Transformation Consultant | Executive Coach and Facilitator | Strategic Leader Building Performance Cultures

2y

I just got off the phone with a VP of Product preparing a presentation for a group of Bob's. His exact question, "how do I get Bob's attention?" It's all in the story!...thanks Gavin.

Brilliant. Insightful. Such perspicacity. Nice work. Nailed it!

Jeff Day

CRO | Spire Integrated

2y

Great piece! I would say stories are tools, not tricks. Therefore, storytellers are artists, not magicians :). Anyone can become an artist, I inherently distrust magicians. Love your posts Gavin McMahon, keep them coming!

Jeff Frick

Engagement in an AI Driven, Asynchronous World | Builder | Top Voice | Video Virtuoso | Content Curator | Host, Turn the Lens podcast and Work 20XX podcast

2y

More important than Ever! A No-Brainer for sure Gavin. No-Brainer in terms of skills and effectiveness? ..... Not so much. Good news, its a skill. Thanks for sharing these helpful frameworks. So many paths go to getting better, watching the best, learning from the best, practicing different versions at trade shows, practicing in a mirror, practicing into a camera, listening, adjusting, getting feedback, filming yourself and watching, hiring a professional, etc. Like any other skill (driving, biking, skiing, etc), mastery comes with time and intentional effort.

To view or add a comment, sign in

Insights from the community

Others also viewed

Explore topics