Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Clarity and chaos in communication

Are you worried about your communication style? Efficient and effective communicators heed to one single aspect of communication – Clarity. Even though some people suggest putting across your point in a complex fashion for the sophisticated audience, it is always advised to avoid chaos and prefer to present your message in a clear way. You should initially have the clarity about the message that you wish to communicate. Here are some ways in which you can communicate with clarity.

Clarity saves time and money.
Try the approach of clarity. As you try to complicate things in your communication, you often spend time explaining concepts that are no way related to the intended message. It is always better to be clear and thereby save your time and money.

Choose chaos only in few situations.
Experts suggest choosing chaos over clarity only in some situations. The best example of such a situation would be when you would like to advertise your product, where you can first complicate and then simplify things. Even this strategy does not approve to most of the products. It applies only to products that are sophisticated and that are aimed at niche customers.

Keep it short and simple.
You need to realize the fact that the human mind is able to register anything that is short and simple. Perhaps, this can be owed to the short-term memory, which can store only 7 plus or minus two things at a single moment. Psychological experts also insist on keeping things simple.

Focus on the message, not on the style.
It is the message that is the lifeline and you need not focus more on the style. Such a focus would often lead to confusion because you are completely diverted and sometimes the receiver of the message misunderstands the intended message. Hence, you have to focus on the message and slowly a style gets established on its own.

Even little messages require planning.
We often take it for granted that little messages require little attention and planning and go about without any planning. You need to understand the importance of planning as you try to communicate something to someone. Such a planning saves you from any last minute exigencies that might trouble you.

Presentation differs with audience.
Likewise, you need to present the same message in different ways to different receivers. There are many factors that you need to take into consideration here. It is the knowledge level of the listeners that also plays an important role here. Understand the perceptions of the audience if you can and it is a sure shot victory for you.

Seek adequate feedback.
You need to learn from your presentation and communication. Insist on getting feedback from the listeners and try to improve your communication each time you communicate with the audience. There are many aspects such as body language that we hardly get to notice and others can help us identify our faults and come up with interesting solutions. Each interaction is an experience. Let your experiences teach.

Establish your own communication style. Very soon, you will be able to establish your own communication style and there is so much that you gain by having a unique communication style. You might wonder how clarity is helpful for sophisticated audience. You need to observe the presentations of very successful people. You will notice the fact that most of the successful orators focus on simplicity. Begin today to establish your own communication style with clarity.

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