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My Short Notes: Communicate with Mastery By J. D. Schramm with Kara Levy

Writer's picture: Siddhartha DebSiddhartha Deb

Abstract: Having command of the English language isn't the only requirement for effective communication. It necessitates strategic consideration of your target audience and communication goals.





*self-referencing Post








Takeaways:


1. First and foremost, understand your audience in order to become an effective communicator.

• Learn about their backgrounds.

• Who is your target audience?

• How far should my message travel?

• For how long do I intend for it to last?

• Is my message formal?

• What is the most convenient medium for my target audience?

2. Manage your anxiety and master your verbal, vocal, and visual communication to speak with conviction.

a. Anxiety can be a wonderful ally or a formidable foe. If you learn how to harness it, it can boost your energy and get you excited about giving a public speech.

b. First and foremost, reframe your major presentation as a conversation.

c. Second strategy: View a speaking engagement as an opportunity rather than a threat. I'm not nervous because I have to speak in front of an audience; rather, I'm excited to share my message with others.

3. Second strategy: View a speaking engagement as an opportunity rather than a threat. I'm not nervous because I have to speak in front of an audience; rather, I'm excited to share my message with others. Did you know that we actually communicate in three different ways?

· First, there’s verbal communication or the actual words you use. Your language adds to your credibility and engagement or detracts from them. Above all, it’s important to be clear and simple.

· Then there’s vocal communication, which is how you use your voice. This includes pace, volume, pitch, vocal clarity, filler words, and animation. If your delivery appears unsure, it could undermine your credibility.


2. Make your writing active, brief, and clear for maximum impact

· The secret to writing well is as simple as ABC active, brief, and clear.

· The active voice makes the written word energetic and concise, which is more engaging and easier for readers to understand.

· On the other hand, the passive voice requires more words, making sentences bulky and sometimes difficult to understand. This sentence is longer. Limit it as much as possible.

· Most audiences suffer from low attention spans. So, invest the time to craft your message in a way that your audience can follow along and remember.

· Avoid using weak verbs like: is, was, were, has, have, and had, as much as possible. Instead, turn to power verbs to create appealing sentences with fewer words. So, instead of using made a decision, use decided. Instead of came into the room use arrived.

· Your writing may be active and brief, but is it clear? Assess your writing against these questions: After reading this document, will the audience take the action I want? Is what I’m asking them to do clear? Is there any thought, phrase, or sentence that will cause the reader to stumble?

· Here’s a tip for mastering headlines. Think: What? So what? Now what? The what is the information you need to share. The so what tells you why this information is relevant and the now what articulates what action is needed.

· It’s great to have persuasive and meaningful content, but it also needs to be pleasing to the eye. This helps your reader take in the information as intended. Make your document reader-friendly by using bullet points, which adds white space, which guides the eye. And don’t be satisfied with a first or second draft. The more you revisit a piece of work, the more you’ll find opportunities to be clear and concise.


3. Create content for a pitch by thinking of the problem to solve, your solution, the market, and your business.

· When pitching for a business venture or collaboration, your pitch content should be memorable and meaningful. But how do you achieve this? First, identify a problem and convince your audience that it needs to be addressed. Then provide a solution that’s missing in today’s market and explain how your business can make the problem better.

· Clearly explain the pain your customers experience because of it. Ask yourself: Why is it such an issue? What are the repercussions? Why do they matter?

· Use videos, graphs, or testimonies to help your audience understand why this problem needs to be solved. Also, identify a gap in the market due to this problem. Investors will look for proof that there’s a viable business model and a clear plan to extract value by filling that gap.

· Pitch your Unique Selling Proposition, or USP. The USP explains Why you? Why this? Why now? So, when devising your proposition, ask yourself: Why am I able to solve this issue in a way that others haven’t? What’s going to set me apart from others doing something similar?

· Impress investors with your solution by giving them a demo. And remember to emphasize the benefits, not the features, as you do this.

· Your next focus is on the market. Describe the initial target market, its estimated size, and any potential expansion. Highlight the advantages of serving this target market. Establish that you not only know your market well but that serving it offers explicit benefits.

· Finally, discuss the details of the business. Investors will be keen to hear your go-to-market strategy. Share when and how you plan to bring your solution to the market, as well as your model for earning revenue. Also share milestones for when you expect it to be profitable and when investors can expect to see some return on their investment.

4. Use storytelling to connect with your audience and make your message stick.

· Storytelling is the most powerful tool in connecting with your audience. In fact, crafting a powerful story should move your audience, hold its interest, and make your message, or intended impact, stick.

· There are many techniques for telling your story, but the key is to chart a change over a period of time. This change, whether subtle or not, affects your character’s condition, attitude, actions, or feelings.

· Consider this: “We changed our environmental practices” isn’t a story. It’s a statement you may feel good sharing, but it doesn’t actively show the change in your attitude. But what about this? “We were using 300 plastic straws a day. One day, we saw a presentation on the effects of our waste. Then we changed our practices and eliminated plastic straws completely.”

· Now that’s a story!

· One way of writing a good story is to dive straight into the middle of the action without preamble. Then, build in the takeaways and lessons learned later in the narrative.

· Another technique is to carefully consider the opening and closing words. The first words, if done well, will hook your audience. The final words will stay with them, moving them to act. Conclude your story with an image, reflection, or a call-to-action to make it even more memorable.

· Avoid adding too many or too few details, though. The former might mean your audience gets lost or bored following the story. With the latter, the audience may not see the point of the anecdote.

· Be clear on the story’s objective, which will help express your takeaways better. Ask yourself: Why am I telling this story? What do I hope the audience will know or feel as a result?

· But there’s more to storytelling than just crafting a narrative. A great storyteller also considers how to deliver the story to capture the audience’s attention.

· When speaking to a group, focus on one person for about four to seven seconds, then another. Use that time to share one thought. As you tell your story, try to connect with each audience member as much as possible.

· Finally, don’t underestimate the value of silence. When a composer includes silence in a score, it’s as much a part of the music as the notes. Similarly, when telling a story, silence can emphasize what was just said or what is about to come. Silence may also allow listeners to make their own interpretations.

5. Connect powerfully with your audience by allocating time for Q&As

· Over time, they realized that the longer speakers spent answering questions, the more the audience enjoyed it. So, they kept reducing the time given to speakers, going as low as 15 minutes with 45 minutes for questions. Their attendees loved it.

· So, in short, questions matter! In fact, you should be proud when audience members want to ask questions. It shows that you’ve inspired them to engage and inquire. In many cases, Q&A sessions are often the most dynamic part of an event.

· If you’re going to host a lively, enjoyable Q&A session at the end of your talk, you must leave sufficient time for it. If you’re using slides, repurpose a killer chart or image from your presentation to reinforce your message. The audience will see this slide the most, so make it matter.

· When a question is asked, restate it to let the audience know that you’ve genuinely heard it. It’s also useful for attendees who may not have heard the original query.

· Sometimes, you may find that you need to reframe a difficult question before answering. This can feel uncomfortable, but there are a few ways to handle it smoothly.

· One way is to validate the question with empathy. This could be hard if the person is challenging you, but try to express appreciation, Thank you for raising that . . . , or support, I can see why you might think that . . .

· Another way is to adopt the mindset of understanding the other person’s perspective rather than leading with animosity.

· For example, when Hillary Clinton was running for the US Senate in 2000, her opponent was Congressman Rick Lazio. While she was a pro-choice Democrat, he was a pro-life Republican. You can’t get starker opposites than that. This was certain to be a talking point in their televised debate.

· So how did Clinton deal with it? When the question arose, she began by emphasizing that there was one thing both candidates could agree on: neither wanted to see more abortions. She then went on to reframe the question by remarking that when the economy does well, fewer women seek abortions. She successfully moved the discussion to a debate on economic development and job creation.

6. Your identity informs your unique perspectives, leadership styles, and goals.

· When writing in another language, you may sometimes construct awkward sentences or choose unwieldy words. A coach can help.

· If you struggle to pronounce a particular word, add it to a slide as a workaround.

· Another suggestion is to slow down your speech. This is sage advice for any leader since speaking slowly helps to control the content, making it more concise and intentional. When you improve your enunciation, listeners can hear every word.

· Practice by saying a sentence out loud extremely slowly, closing your mouth between each word.

· Another benefit to slower speech is the reduction of filler words like um and er.

· Women leaders face additional societal challenges when communicating, which makes it important to adapt to the audience. In fact, the author encourages female leaders to read their audiences and engage with more warmth or strength based on what the situation requires.


7. When hiring a coach, ask your network for recommendations, keep an open mind, and be ready to take risks.



Bibliography


J. D. Schramm with Kara Levy. (2022, June 06). Book Source. Personal. Communicate with Mastery.




Note


These are all personal notes and reviews for self referencing; The self interpretations are not meant for any profit or marketing.




Suggestion to readers


Please read the entire book. Suggested.










--------------------------------------Thank you, Gratitude, Love and Light-----------------------------------

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