Do you communicate with precision?

COMMUNICATION is a two-way street. There’s talking and there’s listening. Today we’re focusing on talking.

QUESTION for you: When you’re talking, how do people respond?

Are they engaged? Do people comprehend what you’re saying? Do people think you’re rambling? Do they ever look at you like this?

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OOPH.

How can we do a better job of engaging people? It’s simple. We communicate with PRECISION.

Communicating with PRECISION means two things:

1️⃣ choosing the right words, optimizing your vocabulary
2️⃣ being succinct, being concise

You can optimize your words when you learn the vocabulary. At work, this comes with time and experience. What about being succinct?

Whether your communication is verbal or written, professional or personal, it’s almost always best to be succinct. I’m not talking about answering with one-word answers or being short with people. I’m talking about being concise.

Less is more.

Communicating with PRECISION is the focus of this week’s Talk About Talk podcast episode. In this short and sweet episode I cover two main areas:

1️⃣ WHY we should communicate with precision
2️⃣ HOW we can be more precise

Communicating with Precision = Improved COMPREHENSION

I learned a great precision metaphor from my friend Jill Nykoliation, the award-winning CEO of ad agency JuniperParkTBWA and former Talk About Talk podcast guest:

Be as precise as a scalpel.

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Communicating with precision (we’re talking heart surgeon-level precision!) requires cutting to the chase. Not with a butter knife. Not even with a steak knife.

For this kind of precision, you need a scalpel.

Episode 103 - Communicating with Precision - quote on talking with precision by Jill Nykoliation

But WHY?

More PRECISE communication leads to improved COMPREHENSION.

A precise message is one that is easier to understand because it is more FOCUSED, easier to RECALL, and often more PERSUASIVE.

They like me! They really like me!

Improved comprehension isn’t the only benefit of communicating with precision. It can also lead to increased LIKEABILITY.

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Say you’ve got a job interview. Did you know that the more precise you are with your answers, and letting the interviewer do most of the talking, the more likely you are to get the job?

Similarly, the less talking you do in a sales pitch, and the more you allow the prospective customer or client to speak, the more likely you are to make the sale.

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