How To Talk To Anyone Get Your Message Across.Html
By Heather Wilde, CTO, ROCeteer@heathriel
Working From Home
Best-Selling Author | Speaker | Coach | CTO
Let’s face it — communication is difficult.
It doesn’t matter who you are, where you’re from, or what you do– getting your point across in the way you intendis one of the hardest things to do in business. Whether you’re putting together a website, a presentation, or just having a conversation, knowing how to craftyour message in the most effective manner can mean the difference between rousing success and terrible failure.
When I’m acting as a public speaker, I have the benefit of getting instant feedback from the audience when my message isn’t getting through. As a CTO, I have to wait months (and sometimes years) to receive feedback on a product. This makes things costly and difficult to change, so I need to get it right the first time.
It should come as no surprise that we all have different ways to communicate with each other. Whether it is the language we use, the tone of voice, or our body language, we’re all doing different things to convey our message. According to popular psychology, there’s something else that we can use to gain an edge.
People generally fall into certain categories for how they learn and process new information. When delivering information to another person, it is important to understand thestyle of your subject so that they will fully understand the topic presented to them.
Whethercreating your latest presentation, designing a social media campaign or creating your product, here are the four types and how to address them:
1. Visual
Visual learners prefer the use of images, graphics, maps, charts and other visual devices in order to understand things. Body language is important, as well as the beauty andaesthetics of themedium used to display the message.
To communicate properly with avisual learner, ensure that you either have something for them to physically look at, or give them enough details to create a mental visualization.
A perfect example of this is Mattermark’s pitch deck, which includes a combination of charts and images in an aesthetically pleasing way.
2. Aural
Aural learners are at their best when they can listen to someone talking, participate in a group discussion or have otherwise spoken verbal interaction. They will use spoken repetition and memorization as well as mnemonics in order to remember key bits of information.
As aural learners remember the things that they have heard, you will want to ensure they have a way to actively listen to your message. In addition to face-to-face meetings or phone calls, you can utilize videos, podcasts, participatory webinars, and meet-upsto help lock in your message.
Tony Robbins is a master at this, offering a range of podcasts, videos, webcasts and audio recordings as part of his courses.
3. Read/Write
Read/Write learners are best served through words. They often take a huge amount of notes to translate complex or abstract ideas into more easily understood ones — usually in the form of essays, articles, etc. They tend to shun graphics and video as a distraction and may struggle with parsing information from aural and visual sources.
To capture the attention ofread-write learners, provide as much data as you have in its raw form, then stand back to allow them to consume it.
While the internet itself is a great playground for read-write learners, your company can take a page from Wikipedia and offer its own wiki with information tailored to your customers.
4. Kinesthetic
Kinesthetic learners are hands-on people. They need to live through a process in order to understand it. They’re always looking for ways to act, and to do things — even to the point of not being able to sit still.
In order to break through the communication barrier with someone kinesthetic, you will need to give them a way to experience for themselves whatever you are trying to convey.
Productivity software company Asanacreatedtemplates to meet the needs of these learners.
Recent studies show that while people may have a preference for one style, new information is best retained when deliveredwith a combination of them.By understanding the different types of communication styles, and takinginto account the differences in each when crafting your message, you’re sure to be understood by anyone.
Nov 30, 2017
For Modern Fertility’s Afton Vechery, the biggest adjustment to going remote during the coronavirus crisis has been minor but symbolic: “I’ve had to switch from contacts to glasses because of all the screen time and video calls,” she says. Vechery co-founded her home-fertility-test startup, which has $22 million in funding, in 2017. While many now have plenty of time on their hands for, well, fertility, Vechery is busier than ever. Here’s how she stays productive.
Climb Every Mountain
The alarm clock buzzes at 6:30 a.m. “A lot of founders have these amazing morning productivity hacks, like meditation,” says Vechery. “For me, the single greatest motivating factor is to just be doing something I love. And so, uh, that translates to emails in bed when I wake up.” After that, Vechery typically bikes to work. During the crisis, she’s swapped her commute for an early-morning ride to the top of San Francisco’s Twin Peaks. It doubles as me time. “It’s really helpful to understand what’s going to bubble up from your subconscious when you’re not being stimulated sitting in front of a computer,” she says.
Face Time
Vechery’s days in quarantine include more one-on-one meetings than they did before, but that’s the cost of keeping information flowing. Modern Fertility has implemented daily meetings at which employees can check on current and upcoming projects. And the staff has organized optional virtual lunches and happy hours, which Vechery will drop into when she can. Whether at home or in the office, she and co-founder Carly Leahy generally eat dinner while working and wrap up around 9 p.m.–though they encourage staffers to leave earlier.
Clear Screen, Clear Mind
Vechery relies on an app called Captio, which lets the founder email a note to herself with one click. But you won’t find the Captio icon on her iPhone’s home screen, which is clear of everything but three apps: Calendar, Clock, and Notes. Manually searching for apps lets Vechery ignore distracting notifications. “As a founder, there’s constantly something else you could be doing,” she says. “But when you have space to think through what you’re working on, you’re a better leader.”
Portion Control
When she makes time for a TV show, Vechery starts with the season finale and views the episodes in reverse order. The strange habit helps prevent the urge to binge. “I have an incredibly addictive personality,” she says. “So this is better for everyone.” Vechery also unwinds by playing the trumpet. “It’s a total break from everything else in life,” she says. “It lets you process your thoughts in a really different way.”
May 13, 2020