Before you start communicating, take a moment to figure out what you want to say, and why. Don’t waste your time conveying information that isn’t necessary and don’t waste the time of the listeners or readers. Too often, people just keep talking or keep writing because they think that by saying more, they’ll surely cover all the points. Often, however, all they do is confuse the people they’re talking to.
Before you communicate:
- Understand your objective. Why are you communicating?
- Understand your audience. With whom are you communicating? What do they need to know?
- Plan what you want to say, and how you’ll send the message.
- Seek feedback on how well your message was received.
- When you do this, you’ll be able to craft a message that will be received positively by your audience.
Good communicators use the KISS (“Keep It Simple and Straightforward”) principle. They know that less is often more, and that good communication should be efficient as well as effective.
