Structured Communication

Credit: Bizfluent

Structured Communication is the ability to articulate thoughts and ideas clearly and effectively in written and oral formats.

Good communicators understand that communication is a mental exercise not a linguistic one. As an A-class communicator you will be required to invest in 3 questions: WHY, WHAT and HOW.

KNOW WHY? Everything we will ever say in life is to answer a question. In fact, without a question there would be no need for a response below it.

e.g. the reason you have to give a presentation is to answer a question or assignment and present the answer to your findings.

KNOW WHAT? When we understand WHY a question is posed to us, it becomes easier to fix WHAT to say in response. - If you do not know the question you are answering don’t answer – Because, if you do not know why it is being asked then your answer won’t help much.

3. KNOW HOW? Does knowing what to say and saying it mean that whoever is listening got exactly what you wanted them to? Most of us know the answer is NO. Mostly because we have been in situations where we were misunderstood or embarrassed when people got what we did not intend to convey.

To expound on structured communication, the Minto principle will be important to understand.

Just like the shape of a pyramid with a tipped point it helps you to: Start with the Main Point - the Conclusion. To then break down supporting reasons below it. Make sure that at any communication point you are only defending one point at a time.

So what if you have many ideas? Then you should be able to summarize them which mean they cogently fit together and if not they are incomplete

Threats to communication

Distraction. It makes it difficult for you to connect with your audience and so you struggle from the word go. You must remember that they will have a lot that can distract them from your message and that you will have a very small window of opportunity to capture and retain their attention.  

If we communicate in an unstructured way, our audience struggles to understand us. Luckily, if we bring structure and uniqueness to our communication we can combat distraction.

Competition. The one thing you are assured of in life is competition. Many people fight competition in two ways. Becoming better or becoming different. While it is paramount for you to improve (become better) it is even more important to focus on being different. Sally Hogshead argues that “Better is a mirage. Better is temporary. Better is a flimsy edge that can be toppled in a millisecond by someone with a bigger following, a lower price, a more convenient location, a fancier degree, a shinier award, a newer technology, a more skilful skill. Better is not always better. Sometimes, it’s worse. But different allows you to highlight the singular traits you already have within you. You aren’t necessarily better than your competition. But you are already different. Doing different is not always easy, it might seem risky to stand out, but risk is the safer of your options.

The greater danger lies on the other side of the coin: being ignored.” So why is your language important? Because communicating successfully to your audience what you are offering requires “knowing what others want and expect from you, and how you deliver it like nobody else, BUT it also requires you to look at yourself from the perspective of how the world sees you. And this means combating the competition by focusing not only on how your offering/product/service is different, but also on how you, the person, are essential to that solution.”

Commoditization. If you become a commodity in the eyes of your customers, it means you’re vulnerable. You can be easily replaced. So your personality and language is very important in the success of your career. A research by Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize-winning psychologist, discovered that “people would rather do business with a person they like and trust rather than someone they don’t, even if the likable person is offering a lower quality product or service at a higher price.”

When you communicate in a usual way that does not set you apart you are seen as replaceable. That is, people have no doubt that what you offer can be found elsewhere because there is nothing unique to you. So how do you use your language to avoid being replaceable and to fight being commoditized?

e.g. A financial adviser who can demonstrate his Innovation Advantage by consistently presenting unique and well-researched options that coincide with his client’s individual interests will never be perceived as replaceable.

When you group and summarize your supporting arguments, it’s easy to go from the single thought to the next level of ideas without getting too detailed right away.

Finally, you want to ensure that the ideas you bring together under each group actually belong together, are at the same level of importance, and follow some logical structure.

This is the beauty of structured communication.

Credit: Excerpts from Uready by Bridge Africa (Structured and Branded Communication)