photo by tim and selena middleton
Communication isn’t rocket science. Most of us have been doing it since the moment of birth. Sometimes it takes a slap on the ass to get us started, but that’s just because some people are more obstinate than others.
If you’re not a communications professional (years of experience with the right job title and responsibilities) you may feel a bit intimidated when someone like me says you need to do a better job of communicating with your stakeholders or customers. I’d like to make this really simple and non-intimidating.
I believe that roughly eight out of every 10 people are basically good, decent folk looking to do the right thing in their lives, both at work and at home. The ninth guy is a clueless idiot beyond help. The 10th is an evil sociopath. These are the people who either get talk shows on FOX or end up running major movie studios.
For the rest of us, my guiding rule for communication is simple: Communicate with others as you wish they would communicate with you.
Do you want to be lied to, misled, confused, dazzled with bullshit, talked down to, starved for useful information, taken advantage of or left feeling slightly dirty? Me neither.
If you communicated with clarity, honesty and sincerity, focused on helping others with their issues and eager to share what you’ve learned, I guarantee you would be ahead of two-thirds of the yowling pack out there.
Yes, I’m a stickler for things like grammar and punctuation, spelling, correct word usage and all the other things that good writers fixate on. But I also appreciate sincere effort and a willingness to learn. You can master this stuff even if you never passed an English test. And one of the great things about social media is that there are legions out there who want to help you get better at it. You just have to ask.
For every email, memo, marketing piece, ad, press release, blog posting, etc., consider what you would think if you were on the receiving end. If the answer doesn’t make you happy, take another shot at it.
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