Have you noticed that we live in a work world that is consistently presenting us with a thorny communication challenge? Tasks are more complex, while people seem less able to focus. In the face of this challenge, how do you build your credibility and stand out as a thought leader? Revisit these cornerstone concepts from Precision Q+A: Crisp, clear, and concise. They will help you successfully present your best thinking, even in a distracted world.
Speed is at a premium in our communication these days. Amid a myriad of interruptions and distractions, we need to know how to quickly align with others. We need to speak and write in ways that help our colleagues and clients easily assimilate the information we are sharing. We do that by distilling into just the right number of words and a helpful structure.
An emphasis on speed, alignment, and distilled messages brings us back to the focus in Precision Q+A on the concepts crisp, clear, and concise. While we have always emphasized these as part of good answering, they are more important than ever as distraction and overload grow. Not only do these fundamentals help us present our best ideas, but they also build trust in our thinking because they help us quickly attune with others and make our best ideas heard.
If you haven’t taken Precision Q+A in a while, here’s a quick review of the basics:
Crisp: each idea is distinct.
Clear: each idea is easily understood.
Concise: each idea uses just the right number of words.
Thinking and communicating in this way is a challenge, especially as things speed up. Mastering crisp, clear, and concise communication requires practice. We recommend practicing in email, where we can take time to craft our ideas and edit our thinking. When we make something like email our training ground, we find countless opportunities to improve every day.
As the level of distraction and information overload increases, people who know how to communicate crisply, clearly, and concisely make their thinking accessible and get their ideas heard. If you want to stand out as a thought leader in your organization, there’s no stronger route to building credibility and influence than a structured practice that helps you become crisp, clear, and concise in every communication.
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