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Work on my communication

The frameworks

Clarity

Core idea

Identify the central idea you actually want the listener to understand.

Message · Capability framework · No. 1

The problem it addresses

People communicate everything they know about a topic instead of the thing that matters.

The shape

  1. Topic
  2. Possible information
  3. Intended meaning
  4. Core idea
  5. Communication

Why that order

A topic contains many facts, opinions and details, and the listener needs almost none of them. Once the core idea is fixed, every other sentence can be judged against one question: does this help communicate the point? Start with details instead and there is nothing to judge them against.

How to run it

  1. Identify the topic.
  2. List the information that could go in.
  3. Ask what you actually want the listener to understand.
  4. Reduce that to one central statement.
  5. Keep only the support that strengthens it.
  6. Say the point.
  7. Add detail only where it is needed.

A worked example

A manager asks how the project is progressing.

Instead ofWe have had a few issues with the API, and then the testing team found some problems, and yesterday we had another discussion with the vendor.
Core idea
The project is on track, but the API dependency is our main risk.
Support
Development is 80 per cent complete, but the vendor has delayed the API confirmation.
Action
We are with the vendor today and will know by tomorrow whether the timeline moves.

You have it right when

The listener can say what the main point was.

What usually goes wrong

Turning it into everything must be one sentence. The framework finds the organising idea. It does not require the communication to be short.

Adapting it

Informal conversation
The core idea can stay implicit.
Executive
It should arrive early and out loud.
Teaching
It can be followed by a great deal of explanation.
Crisis
It may need to be the only thing said.

Used in

Where this shape does its work in a real situation.

Practise it

Knowing the shape is about ten minutes of work. Running it while somebody senior is looking at you is a different thing, and that is what these are for.

A framework tells you what shape the answer takes. It cannot tell you whether shape is what you are short of, and for most people it is not. Which one is yours, and whether a framework is the right instrument at all, is what a Discovery Call is for.

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