“IF YOU SPEAK TO A MAN IN A LANGUAGE HE UNDERSTANDS, THAT GOES TO HIS HEAD, BUT IF YOU SPEAK HIS LANGUAGE, THAT GOES TO HIS HEART” -NELSON MANDELA
Being an excellent communicator is a quality that will make you stand out from the rest. The ability to express ideas clearly and convincingly is a skill possessed by the best leaders, those capable of producing change, championing causes, or changing the fate of companies on the edge of the abyss.
Language and the ability to link and share knowledge are fundamental aspects for living together and even for the mental and physical health of the human being.
Communicating is essential and allows us to interact with our peers and even with other animal species. In our daily life, we do not stop doing it, since every act or even its absence is communicative.
However, we must ask ourselves, are we able to communicate effectively?
Know how to express yourself and make yourself understood
Communicating involves the exchange of information between two or more subjects through the use of various codes through which they can transmit.
However, doing so effectively does not only imply that a subject A issues a message to a subject B.
For communication to be effective, it is necessary to establish a climate of mutual understanding and respect in which the message is transmitted clearly, concise, and unambiguous the content of the message being consistent with the attitude present in the communication.
The act must allow both components to express themselves and be actively heard, as well as maintain a language adjusted to the abilities of both subjects.
We live in an increasingly individualistic society, which makes communication effectiveness difficult. People tend to express themselves continuously without leaving room for others to answer and without really listening to what the others have to say in addition to making frequent the use of ambivalences and ambiguities that can give rise to different interpretations.
The following ten rules for effective communication were developed by Dr. Frank Luntz, who has been a communication advisor to distinguished politicians, as well as a large group of outstanding companies.
Simplicity
We must always choose the most straightforward words to communicate, the best known. The more rare and gimmicky the words, the fewer people will understand your message.
Brevity
Never use four words if you can write it in three, be as brief as possible. Today capturing and keeping people’s attention is very difficult, so the fewer words you use to convey your message better.
Credibility
People have to believe before buying. If your message is not sincere or contradicts facts, perceptions, or circumstances accepted as true, it will lack impact. It is always very tempting to promote yourself as the best service, the best quality, the cheapest, but if this is not true, your credibility will be negatively affected.
Consistency
To remember the message, you must repeat it many times. The leader who wants to produce a real change must choose a few topics and stay with them. Listening to something repeatedly will help the message to remain inside the minds of the people.
Novelty
We get bored quickly, that’s why we’re always on the lookout for the next big thing: the new best diet, the new gadget, the latest application, etc. Surprising people with unknown data or statistics makes a message much more memorable. If people say ‘I did not know that’, you have triumphed.
Sound and texture
Groups of words that begin or end with the same letters have a higher recall, a message that has rhyme is also more easily remembered. “Intel Inside”, “Rexona does not leave you” and “A bit of pasta is enough” are examples of very successful slogans that followed this rule.
Transmit aspirations
We aspire to a better future, and we want to have the illusion that tomorrow we will be smarter, healthier, more attractive. A positive message, full of hope, is more seductive than a negative and pessimistic one.
Display
Use words to create images. M & M, “melt in your mouth, not in your hands”; Heineken, “think green”, from the previous (and well-remembered) messages it is easy to create a mental image.
Ask questions
Do you like driving? (BMW), Nespresso … What else? An affirmation made in the form of a rhetorical question can have a more significant impact than the affirmation alone.
Context
People must first understand why your message is important before adopting it. For a political campaign, for a new product, or a change initiative within the company, people must first understand why.
Communication is part art and part science. To make an impact is not necessary to always incorporate the ten rules, but the more you follow them, the more powerful your message will be.
Power brings responsibility. Now that you can influence use it responsibly.
