“Keep it simple and keep it to the point.” I thought to myself many times, as I created presentations, wrote emails, prepared speeches, etc. Except that I didn’t….I always felt this panic rising in my gut that told me if I didn’t get all of the information out there then people wouldn’t understand. I told myself I needed to break it down to the very core with a whole lot of words and a really roundabout way of getting to my point in order to make people hear my messaging. I felt I needed to get everything I needed to say out there and jam my messaging as much as possible. Honestly, I still really struggle with clarity and keeping things short, clear, and to the point. Even with this blog, I still struggle, every time I write, to get to the point and not be too flowery or wordy. Don’t get me wrong…there is a time and place for that. But it isn’t during a staff meeting when teachers are tired already, or in a lengthy email when parents already get endless emails from personal, work, and sport already.
So…here I am….searching for clarity once again, looking for ways to be a better and more efficient communicator. And it is super hard for me!
I have been researching and attending some focus group conversations about ways that we can be better communicators and there are so many things that have hit home for me. I thought I would share them in my blog post this week in hopes they would help you too.
Think about how you could create an elevator pitch and try to develop a lead statement with only 1 or 2 supporting details. I use this method when I am writing an email, having a difficult or strategic conversation, or writing a newsletter. I try to keep it as short and to the point as possible. The elevator pitch method helps me to do that. The elevator pitch is basically a mindset that if you are in the elevator with someone, you only have 30-45 seconds to get your message across before that person leaves the elevator. It’s a short, memorable description of what you do and/or what you want to put into action or achieve. The goal is to earn a second conversation, not to convince the person you’re talking to they should hire you or buy your solution. It is not a greasy sales pitch….Whether you’re introducing yourself at a networking event, telling new colleagues about your message, leading a meeting, writing an email, or pitching to another professional — you want to capture attention and get it fast. An elevator pitch is never an opportunity to close a deal or never talk about again. It’s an opportunity to close more of your listener’s attention and time. It’s a quick introduction to your vision, your message, what you would like to be put into action, and how you can help your prospect. I use this method in interviews, when I am pitching an idea, having a quick conversation, or writing emails.
When writing a message or an email or planning a meeting or professional development, write it out in point form first and try to streamline the message and strip away the noise. I like to start with the outcome. I think about what I want the learner to know, learn, or articulate by the end of the message or meeting. Next, I strip away the noise and write a to do list to get them from point a to point b the quickest. I then get to work writing the point form into either more of a presentation form or an email. The important thing to remember is that by the end of the email, meeting, or professional development content creation, is that you actually achieved the outcome you had set in the first place. Be sure to revisit the outcome when you are done creating.
Set boundaries and guidelines to keep you within the time or length that you originally set. In other words, set a specific word length or time limit and stick with it. These hard boundaries create a sense of urgency and they make sure that you get your message across in the most efficient way possible. Think about it, if you just wrote an email with no word length or boundaries, the sky is the limit for how long and how off topic you could go. These boundaries ensure an elevator pitch happens with a clear message and we aren’t wasting people’s time. If I look at an email and have to endlessly scroll, then I am not interested. That is just the way of our world these days and so I have learned to work with ways to fit my message into boxes with very descriptive, to the point, messaging and expectations. Heck, when I am planning, I even put my ideas into boxes to give me that visual image of boundaries!
Offer opportunities to learn and spin a vision story rather than a vision statement. The best leaders know that we are all continually growing and learning. Conferences, internal trainings, or mentor programs are valuable tools that can help your team reach their highest potential and help to ensure your messaging and expectations happen. Don’t just tell them what they need to do, offer a vision story, and opportunities to learn. A vision statement is a business document that states the current and future objectives of an organization. A vision story is quite different and can often be more effective. The best sales people, leaders, and the best content marketers are often great storytellers. They have the ability to craft compelling narratives that persuade their potential audience to want to buy, commit, or take action. A vision story is a consistently-communicated message that is intended to resonate with your target audience, and to articulate how your approach to solving your most common challenges sets you apart from their other options. It is intended to inspire and motivate your audience, and to make them want to engage with you. You tell your vision through story and then give it a nickname to remind them of that story and provide opportunities for them to learn more about making that vision happen. So for our school division, our vision was to instill a reader/writer workshop method within our ELA curriculum. It started with our Superintendent telling a story about how his associate gathered 12 people and started to provide opportunities for them to gather, learn and go into each other’s classrooms to figure out how workshop worked. He spoke of how much she went through to get it up and running but how determined and passionate she was about it. He went on to describe how those 12 original teachers became inspired by her messaging and they pulled more teachers into the learning through more and more cohorts. The teachers did this through providing examples and evidence of the incredible impact this workshop had on their teaching. After, our Superintendent was finished telling the story, he nicknamed his vision story, “The 12”. Now we often refer to ‘The 12′ when we are visioning or leading. Get rid of the protocol jargon if you can and tell a story backed up with how to have opportunities to support and get them to that vision. In order to tell a vision story, think of this analogy….’guy likes the girl and she likes him….guy loses girl…guy gains her back and they are even stronger than ever.’ I heard this analogy from a mentor of mine and it has helped me to tell my own vision stories.
Clarity is everything. If people know what you are talking about, understand it, and have clear expectations through smaller, more frequent transactions of time, and through story, then things will start to happen. Start to look for ways that you can put some of these strategies into practice and see what happens! Remember, this is all hard work and it will take time. With practice, it becomes easier and easier. Now let’s starting getting to the point!
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