Type, Pause, Click

Communication in these modern times has been reduced to short sharp emoji filled, vowelless sentences. And we get frustrated when people don’t listen or understand us.
What has happened to the sit-down and chat over a good cup of freshly roasted coffee and delve into the meat of an issue? No, we are moving too fast, with too much to do, and too little time.
But stop for a minute (if you can afford it)
Is not being heard and understood one of the pillars of success? (I will let that sink in for a bit)
Communication is key to innovation and innovation to success and success to sustainability. Surely, we should pause a bit and slow down and spend more time speaking, communicating, and making sure our message is heard and understood.
Covey taught us to first understand before we react. He also told us to begin with the end in mind. Both these go out of the door if we are emoting and blue-ticking our way through conversations.
Let’s go back to primary school language skills and the basics of a business letter to relearn a simple and effective way to speak to people: Introduction, Body, Conclusion.
If we are basing all our interactions on this and having a predetermined outcome and response, then it is a good start. We should be allowing time for our conversation to connect with the person or people we are talking to (introduction). We should then put forward our side of the story. Do not use more than three facts or points, people are still getting lost in the detail. (Body) the finish with a call to action or agreement on the next steps (Conclusion).
Go on give this new-old formula a go for your next conversation and please for goodness’ sake, let’s learn how to use more vowels and fewer emojis. Let’s talk like the intellectual relational human beings that we are.