Try being a journalist

When you think of clear writing, the most common reference point is your daily newspaper. From coast to coast, there is a consistency in stories written for the newspaper that seems to cross regional lines, ownership, and size of the newspaper. You may find it odd that so many journalists write in the same style with the same degree of clarity.
Actually, every school of journalism in the country teaches students about the “five horsemen” of journalism: Who?, What?, Where?, When?, and Why? The journalist is supposed to answer these five questions in the first paragraph of a story. The next five paragraphs should each expand on the answer to one of the questions. The least important information appears at the end of the story. That way, if the story is too long for the available space in the newspaper, editors can just delete the end of story, and no important information is lost.
Look at a copy of today’s newspaper. Pick any story that interests you in the first section (or the news section if you read your daily paper online). I point you to that section because stories there are more likely to follow the traditional structure of news writing. Reporters depart from the structure in some of the special-interest sections, such as the sports or entertainment sections. As you read the first paragraph of a straight news story (especially a story from one of the wire services), notice how the reporter explains:

• Who the story is about
• What the person did to land in the news
• Where the event happened
• When the event took place
• Why the event occurred

Read the last few paragraphs of the article and notice how trivial that information is compared to the first few paragraphs. Notice how the first few paragraphs after the lead paragraph are packed with important material compared with the information later in the story. Use the same technique, and you can’t go wrong. Remember: You’re providing the information your listener needs to know to achieve your goal. Organize the facts like a newspaper story.

Write it down

The written word is often more useful than the spoken word when you’re trying to communicate clearly. When you have something to say, write it down, look at it, edit it, and make it right. When the words are your own, you don’t have to release them until they are as near to perfect as possible. Many people believe they can’t or don’t know how to write as clearly as they speak. This is rarely true. The simple fact is that when you write instead of speak the words, you can see more easily whether your message is unclear. You can see in black and white that the words are ambiguous or your thoughts are incomplete.
Also, the written word disallows such conversational crutches as “ya know what I mean?” When used as a rhetorical question, this phrase doesn’t clarify the issues. It moves the conversation deeper into confusion. The process of putting your thoughts into writing brings you face-to-face with your failure to communicate clearly. Rather than bemoan your lack of writing skills, open your eyes and say honestly — maybe for the first time in your life —
“Wow, I didn’t realize how poorly I have been communicating my ideas.”
Here are some basic tips to get you on the road to clear communication:

• Use short sentences.
• Use short words.
• Avoid jargon and abbreviations — even when you are writing to another professional in your field — unless the other person uses these terms exactly the way that you do.
• Complete your sentences.
• Stick to one idea per paragraph.
• Have a beginning, middle, and end to the overall communication.
• Be accurate.

Don’t be afraid to number paragraphs to cover different points, but don’t delude yourself into thinking that numbering paragraphs brings order to a document that otherwise lacks coherence or good sense.

Keeping your commitments

Being clear includes being consistent in the words you say and the deeds that follow. If you say one thing and do another, it’s confusing. Your inconsistent conduct turns an otherwise clear communication into a real puzzlement. Keep each and every commitment that you make during a negotiation. In life, keeping commitments is important; in a negotiation, it’s essential. Keeping your commitments is the acid test of clarity; it’s also the bedrock of trust. A notorious thief can look you in the eye and say, “I will have that assignment on your desk at 2 p.m.” If the assignment is there, the thief has gained your trust. On the other hand, if an honest person misses the 2 p.m. deadline, your trust in that person is diminished. If you tell the other party that you will call back at 9 the next morning, be sure to call at that time. Breaking your promise calls your integrity into question and creates confusion about what exactly you meant when you promised to call back at 9 a.m. Failing to keep your word also upsets the other party. Such inattention may be considered, debated, and evaluated by the other side. Their loss of trust may call into question side issues and create tensions that are counterproductive to a negotiation.
If you are negotiating with someone on behalf of a client or company, failure to keep commitments is harmful to you and the party you’re representing. This neglect can damage your relationship with your client or your standing within the company. Word often gets back about your unprofessional behavior. Professional negotiators are often falsely blamed for not returning calls or not providing documentation in a timely fashion. Don’t provide grist for that mill.

Cut the mumbo-jumbo

Some concepts are, by nature, just plain difficult to grasp. Sometimes being clear requires creativity. For example, if you have many numbers to present, try putting them in graphs — bar, pie, or line charts — anything but reams of numbers. Keep the lists of numbers as a backup. By all means, oversimplify technical points at first — you can explain fully later in the conversation, after you have your listeners hooked. Also, define jargon and spell out acronyms. For example, I say, “I’m going to LAX,” and people from outside of Los Angeles may not know that LAX is the airport. People from New York head to JFK. You got it. It’s the airport. Avoid references that may leave your listener wondering what the heck you’re taking about. In written materials, footnotes and appendices serve the purpose of clarity. Do everything you can to make listening and understanding easy and enjoyable.

Know your purpose or goals

When you know exactly what you want to say, communicating clearly is much easier. In the past, you must have had the urge to say, “So, what’s your point?” — usually with an exasperated tone. More often than not, a person who is asked that question looks surprised and fumbles for a good, onesentence answer. When the speaker doesn’t know the point, the listener is hopelessly lost.
In any communication, you should know the point and be keenly aware of the overall purpose or goal. Simply saying, “Oh, I just like to talk” is okay for recreational situations. But if you’re trying to get someone else to provide some action, approval, or acquiescence.

Tips for Being Clear

A well-turned phrase always involves an element of art. You don’t have to be an artist to be clear. The flowery phrase is nice; the clear phrase is a necessity. Part of the beauty of a clear phrase is how accurately it hits the bull’s-eye; that is, how precisely it conveys your meaning. If you assign people to complete tasks for you at work, your first task is to clearly tell the person what you want him or her to do. Easier said than done. Getting results in the workplace has less to do with charisma than with clarity. For best results, take your time. If something is worth saying, it’s worth saying clearly. Here are some hints for maximizing clarity.

1. Set the climate.
Be sure you’re in a place conducive to concentration at a time when the assistant or co-worker can pay attention. Listen to your words as you set the tone. A harried manager may unwittingly say, “Now this is a simple, mindless task; that’s why I’m giving it to you.” Not very motivating.

2. Give the big picture.
Describe the overall objectives. People need to see where their part fits into the whole to feel like they are a part of the loftier goal.

3. Describe the steps of the task.
This is the meat of the delegation discussion. Sometimes these steps are already printed in an instruction or procedures manual. You still need to go over these steps, however briefly, to assure yourself that the employee is familiar with them. If the steps are not already written out, have the person write the list as you speak. This effort increases the probability of retention.

4. Cite resources available.
Point out where to find other references on the task, if any. Resources include anyone who has completed the task before, a general book on the subject, or a specific manual for your office.

5. Invite questions.
Even if you feel that you don’t have time to answer questions, the extra attention is worth the effort. Better to spend the time to explain a task up front than be unhappy with the results later. Invite questions with open-ended prompting such as, “What questions do you have?” not “You don’t have any questions, do you?”

6. Get the person to summarize his or her strategy for accomplishing the task.
This step takes guts on your part; you risk being answered with a defensive “Do you think I’m stupid?” Use this sentence: “Call me compulsive —
I need you to summarize how you will get this done.” When you take responsibility, you reduce defensiveness in the other person.

7. Agree on a date to follow up.
The deadline depends on the complexity and value of the task. You may need time and practice to develop the fine art of following up without hovering. You greatly increase the chances that the person will meet the deadline if he or she helped to set it.

When you speak, ask “Did I make myself clear?” Ross Perot’s line during his oh-so-brief presidential campaign was, “Are you with me?” Such questions often help both parties proceed more productively. “Did I make myself clear?” may remind the other person to listen instead of lazily replying “yes.” If the point is critical, you may ask the other party to repeat the information back to you just to be sure that you are communicating effectively. Assure your counterpart that repeating vital information does not constitute an agreement — just clarification.

P.R.E.P. for a presentation

Before you can organize your thoughts, you need to assess what your listener needs and then find out how experienced he or she is with the subject matter. When you know that, you can figure out how much of your presentation needs to focus on general education — bringing the other person up to speed, as they say.
After you have taken care of these preliminary matters, you are ready to organize your thoughts. You can organize your thoughts in many ways, but the important thing is to do it. Here are my favorite three ways to organize a presentation.
The first way to get organized is by using the P.R.E.P technique. Use the approach: point, reason, example, point. It works because it’s so logical; you won’t leave anyone in the dust. Here’s an example:

• My point is: Exercise is energizing.The reason is: It gets your heart rate up.
• My example is: After at least 20 to 30 minutes of increased heart rate, you are more energized when you come out of the gym than when you went in.
• So, my point is: Exercise is energizing.

The P.R.E.P. approach can definitely help you organize your material. Now, read the paragraphs about P.R.E.P. again. Note how I explained this concept using the P.R.E.P. approach. Mark the appropriate sentences with the letters P.R.E.P. for each of the corresponding ideas. This formula works with any presentation, from a five-minute informal chat, to a thirty-minute formal speech using many examples. The P.R.E.P. approach is a great way to get organized and be clear.