Of all the skills I have learned, business communication has paid the greatest dividends. This is not a difficult skill to learn. However, practice, experience, and honest feedback are the key ingredients to become a master.
Business Communication – Short and Sweet
The old phrase “short and sweet” is a great way to sum up what I have learned. The audience for any business communication (email, documents, presentations, etc.) value time and clarity. They start with the assumption that you know what you are talking about. Thus, it is up to you to confirm that assumption or prove them wrong. Of course, that is not the only measure of successfully communicating your ideas. There is also a need to convey the idea in a short time with absolute clarity.
Confusion Equals Failure
Although delivering your message in a timely manner is important, clarity is critical. When you deliver an excellent message that is understood by no one you have wasted everyone’s time. This sort of botched communication can cost you sales or even a job. Thus, there is a lot of value in working on the clarity of your communication. It is extreme to worry about losing your job over confusing communications. Nevertheless, it is the level of importance clarity should be given.
Know Your Medium
A good deal of this episode covers the various platforms we have for communication. There is a different way to communicate on Twitter or via text messages than a long-form document, presentation, or email. Some of these avenues are bad choices for business communication. However, we all have instances where we are forced to communicate in a way that is less than ideal.
