Getting Your Message Across
These days I have been thinking a lot about how we communicate with each other. Often, we make the assumption that others will understand our perspective without taking into consideration the other person’s point of view. It is important to know what you want to say, but it is equally critical to understand how others hear what you say, so you can be certain how your message will be received. Getting your message across is both an art form and a skill.
I learned this lesson when I was working with speakers as it was crucial to craft their messages for different audiences. Even something as simple as describing a speaker as being “ inspirational” when talking to a college, I had to be certain to call that same individual motivational when talking to a company. Most of the time the words and delivery were almost exactly the same; it was all about getting my message across in a way that it would be received.
One of the best experiences I ever had working with a speaker in this regard was translating the personality research of biological anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher so that companies who were interested in hosting her could understand the impact she would have on their employees. The challenge was that this groundbreaking scientific research was first introduced to the world through her book Why Him, Why Her, which looks at personality through the lens of love and romance. Clearly sharing that publication with an Executive Vice President for Talent Development would be a non-starter. What to do?
Since I knew that Dr. Fisher was open to collaborating, I gave her a list of business industries we thought would be interested in her work and asked her to customize her offerings to each market segment along with a general speech for leadership in the C Suite. While we could not guarantee the outcome, she was excited to give it a chance and got busy customizing her content. It took a while, but within one year over 50% of all of her bookings were with a wide variety of corporate customers. If we had not taken into consideration how they heard her message, I am certain we would not have been this successful.
What is it that you are wanting to say?
If you have ideas you want to communicate let's explore that so we can begin crafting your ideas into messages that matter.
“Listening is not just hearing what someone tells you word for word. You have to listen with a heart. I don’t want that to sound touchy-feely; it is not. It is very hard work. ”
I had the pleasure of working with playwright and actor Anna Deavere Smith for over two decades. While many people know her from her roles on The West Wing and Nurse Jackie, it was her theater pieces, and especially her revolutionary one woman shows that was responsible for her earning a MacArthur Fellowship. Ms. Smith crafts her plays by interviewing people and constructing text using those verbatim words to create them into a narrative. Then because she also has the rare ability to embody the voice & manner of others, she performs each of the roles. When she was commissioned to write Twilight:Los Angeles about the 1992 LA riots Deveare-Smith interviewed over 300 people and created a play showcasing over 25 different characters to help audience members understand the complexity of those tragic events. By inviting us to listen to a diversity of voices she gave us the possibility to explore the realities that exist for different people. It was like nothing I had ever seen before and its impact has stayed with me all these years.
Now more than ever we need to talk to each other in a way that others can hear.
I can help you get your message across.
Whether you are a speaker who wants to get your message out or a professional committed to translating your experience into a new opportunity, let’s arrange a time to explore how best you can use your words to have the widest impact.