Think back to the first day in your current job: how did you feel about taking on the new challenge? Did you have clarity on what was expected of you? Were you confident in your understanding of the business and of your job?
Now think about today, whether that’s months or years later: you’re actually doing your job, you know so much more and you get how things fit together in your organisation.
While the ‘today’ is crucial for you to be successful, remembering your first day is important for becoming a better communicator. Let me explain.
Put yourself into the shoes of a beginner
I recall many first meetings where I was inundated with acronyms and jargon and while I could ask questions to clarify these terms, there was always plenty I didn’t understand. Often I wished people would just talk straight. In simple terms that anyone can understand.
One easy and quick way to fix this is to briefly define each technical term before you continue using it. For example: “In this dashboard, we’re listing 5 KPIs – that’s key performance indicators.”
The more challenging but ultimately more rewarding and helpful approach is to consider the other people in the room/online and what their understanding is. This puts a greater demand on YOU as the communicator but your stakeholders or audience will greatly appreciate it. In the process you’ll become a more fine-tuned communicator.
An example here is something I’ve been experiencing a lot over the last few months. Every adult and most children know that pregnancy lasts for around 9 months. But it’s only existing parents and healthcare professionals who find counting in weeks meaningful. For those without a child of their own or without a close relationship to a pregnant woman, it’s almost certain that ’25 weeks pregnant’ means very little to them, but ‘6 months pregnant’ gives them useful context.
As this topic comes up again and again, I make every effort to consider (if I know) which version is more meaningful for the person across from me, or I simply say both if I’m not sure.
How to figure out what the other person knows
Communicating with consideration to the other person’s expertise and experience is great, but how can you know what they know or don’t know?
It can be as easy as asking them. For example, if you’re giving a technical demo using specific software or notebooks, ask your audience whether they’re familiar with the user interface before you start. If everyone is, then you can likely focus more on the content of your demo. If some people haven’t seen the UI before, be sure to be more descriptive as you move across the screen, and – where relevant – point out specific functionality as you use it.
Sometimes you can’t ask people directly. Maybe you’re speaking to a large crowd or you’re delivering a webinar and don’t know who’s watching. In these cases I suggest that you can assume a certain level of understanding and expertise (e.g. well educated, with industry knowledge and foundational technical understanding) but make sure to not pepper your audience with jargon and super specific details.
Great communication matters
When you can talk to any audience and help them understand, you can make a huge difference. It may surprise you to hear this, but there are so many people out there who communicate poorly in writing and in conversations.
People try to outsmart and out-jargon each other, using fluffy, useless words to make themselves sound clever. What truly matters is that the other person understands what you’re saying. And that’s YOUR responsibility.
It will pay off: even if you can’t define why some people leave such a positive impression on you, I bet a lot of it has to do with how they communicate.
If you focus on only a single skill to improve, make it communication. It’s valuable throughout your career as well as in your personal life.
And remind yourself: What did you know on day 1? How can you communicate in a way that ‘day 1 you’ would have appreciated?