In this video we're going to look at how to communicate concisely, probably the
number one professional communication skill that you should develop.
So let's get into it.
Thomas Jefferson once said the most valuable of talents is that of never
using two words when one word will do. He was talking about concise communication.
And that is the topic of our video. You want to be concise, not long-winded.
Because there are a lot of benefits to communicating concisely. First of all,
it'll help you sound more like a leader almost instantly because that's how
leaders communicate. they have that nice crisp sound. The second thing it'll do
it'll be more likely that people understand and follow what you're saying.
And that's a big part of why we communicate in the first place. another
advantage is that we have a lot more influence when our communication is
concise. The overall main point of this video is that concise communication
makes you sound more confident. I'd like to share three tips with you on how you
can be more concise in your very next conversation, meeting, and interaction.
The first tip is a phrase or a statement that I would like to teach you. You can
say the statement out loud or you can say it in your head. And a statement is
this. "If I had to boil it down I would say." And if you say this statement this
phrase right before you share your actual message, it will train you into a
habit of communicating concisely. so out loud it would sound like this. You're in
a meeting. People are talking you're finally ready to say what you want to say. You
give it some thought and then you say out loud, if I had to boil it down I
would say . . . and then you share your actual message maybe your message is, I think
that Plan A has more advantages than Plan B. And what this phrase does is it
cues to you and to the people around you that you're about to bottom line it.
You're about to be very concise. And so having said this it really prompts you
to be more concise it also gives your brain time to think and time to
crystallize that message. Now you don't always have
to say it out loud. In fact, many of the clients I've worked with, and even I use
this tip myself, I simply say it in my head right before I share my message.
That cues me to be more synthesized and more concise. so I just say in my head if
I had to boil it down right now I'd say it sounds like what you're saying is you
want to establish healthier boundaries between work and your home life. And by
prompting your brain to think that way and just saying it in your head that's
called self-talk that helps you be more concise when you finally do speak out
loud. So that's tip number one.
Tip number two is a little different. This is for
everyday conversations at work and with other people. In a conversation, the
tip is this you want to strive for short talking turns. That means when it's your
turn to talk you give about one or two sentences and then in the conversation
you leave room for the other person to give their talking turn, their one or two
sentences or however long they talk. and by sticking to this discipline of one or
two sentences per talking turn, you create a dialogue with the other person
instead of a monologue. Monologues are really not okay in conversations. If you
approach people and you talk at them for extended talking turns a long time a
couple minutes straight, it's going to be a huge turnoff and the next time they
see you coming they're likely to try to find a way out of that conversation. We
all want a dialogue and by limiting your talking turns to just one or two
sentences, you will create that wonderful dialogue and exchange of ideas that
everybody wants. and in fact as an example I would like to share with you
some dialogue from a movie from the old movie Rocky, that first one that won the
Academy Award. the dialogue in this movie is outstanding and you'll notice that
they're really short talking turns between Adrian and Rocky in this scene
right before Rocky's big fight. Rocky says, I can't do it.
Adrian says, what. I can't beat him Apollo. Yeah,
I've been out there walking around and thinking. I mean who am I kidding? I ain't
even in this guy's league. what are you gonna do? I don't know. You worked so hard.
Yeah, but that don't matter because I was nobody before. Don't say
that. So, you'll notice in that conversation there's lots of back and
forth, short talking turns is the way to get there. Now of course in the movie,
this is not exactly real life because they're really working hard to pare the
dialogue down but it does give us an example of what a nice exchange looks
like because in movies they know that people want dialogue not a monologue and
we should strive for the same kind of thing in our everyday conversations. so
that's tip number two. Short talking turns.
The third tip I want to give you
is for meetings. And that is create a communication plan before your meeting.
Now what that means is that whatever value that you're supposed to offer at
this meeting, whatever participation you have, beforehand you wants you create
some talking points so that you're really on point and on message during
that meeting. And then once you're at the meeting, you stick to the plan. You resist
the temptation to go on tangents and pull the meeting off track. Now one of
the things this will do is when you share your talking turn really concisely
it leaves room for Question and Answer and follow-up and you can flesh out some
of the details during that Q&A. This is the way leaders do it. they come with a
concise pitch and then they have a dialogue after that pitch. The other
thing you want to do is if you're in charge of this meeting in any way is to
make sure you end on time every time. aAnd this helps create the overall impression
that you're concise but it also gives you the self-discipline to know that if
we're going to end on time I really have to figure out what I want to say in
advance. And so it's a kind of discipline that you can add to your meeting
preparation. so those are the three tips for being more concise.
In summary
concise communication makes you sound more confident. In terms of your homework,
your next step, the action that I want you to take I would like to think of the
very next conversation or meeting you have on your calendar and use any of
these three tips to be more concise during that interaction. And I'd like to
finish with a quote from Dennis Roth. If it takes a lot of words to say what you
have in mind, give it more thought. Thanks and I'll see you in the next video.
I hope you enjoyed that first lesson and concise communication skills.
The next lesson up is on clear communication and by the way at any
point if you would like to download the free guide the quick guide to this
course which summarizes each of the five lessons I will put a link to that
download in the description below the video and on this pop-out card here.
Let's get into the next video on clear communication.