The Foundations of Effective Communication
Compelling Communication is designed to tell a story.
Starting with the essentials of the art, it moves on to how to write with real impact, the remarkable but often underappreciated power of storytelling, and then the fearful land of public speaking and presentations.
From there, it ventures into the online world, how to get your work featured in the media, then strategic ways to use communication to achieve your aims.
Like many good stories, it begins at the beginning. In Chapter 1, we cover the foundations of effective communication.
Whether you’ve read the book or not, here’s a quick quiz to test your knowledge of the essentials:
QUIZ
So, how did you do? Did any of the answers surprise you?
It’s interesting that the basics of good communication are very different from what we were taught in school, or learned in the world of work. We explore more of that as we journey through both the book and the course.
Another foundation of effective communication is a concept known as the golden thread. It ensures your work is focused and professional, and also saves you effort by eliminating any irrelevant material. It’s so named because you can imagine it as a golden thread of narrative which runs through your content.
Let’s put the thread into action with a challenge. Imagine you’re coming to visit Cambridge. It’s a brief trip, in the springtime, and you emailed me to ask what to visit. You only have a couple of hours free, so I’ve sent you an ideal suggested itinerary. I’m nice like that.
But, unfortunately, I’m having one of those days and I seem to have digressed at various points. First of all, what should the golden thread of this message be? Can you sum it up in one simple line?
Next, can you spot the points which wander away from it, waste your time and might just be annoying asides?
- I suggest you start with King’s College. It’s right at the heart of the city, probably our most popular attraction, and you just have to see it. The Chapel, in particular, is spectacular. It’s great for photos to impress your friends, or put on social media.
- King’s is where I had one of my favourite suppers. I met lots of fascinating people, and the port was particularly good, although I regretted it the next morning!
- My friend, Thomas, teaches at King’s. He’s a lovely chap. Very smart, hilarious, full of anecdotes and great company. He also has this delightful tendency to wear bow ties at the slightest provocation, which is oddly endearing.
- Next, I’d suggest visiting Trinity College. As you’re coming in the springtime, the gardens will be fantastic. Make sure you see the crocus lawn, at the front of the college. It’s a blaze of colour at this time of year.
- I’ve filmed some videos for Trinity. One is a favourite, because we used a drone to capture some lovely aerial shots. They added a real sense of perspective to the film.
- After Trinity, you’ll probably need some refreshments. So head to the Eagle pub. It’s where Crick and Watson went to announce – and celebrate – their discovery of the structure of DNA, back in 1953.
- I had a great night in the Eagle myself, marking the conclusion of a fundraising round for one of the companies I work with. They’ve discovered some new technology for analysing how molecules combine in the human body. I don’t really understand the science, but apparently it’ll be a great weapon in the fight against disease.
- You’ve probably got time for one more location, so don’t miss Grantchester Meadows. It’s about 20 minutes’ walk from the Eagle, but well worth it. You can stroll alongside the gently meandering River Cam and the scenery is stunning.
- I tried punting here once. It’s not as easy as it looks. Believe me! Happily, the river isn’t deep, so I managed to get out without too much trouble.
- Anyway, that should do you for an itinerary. Hope it helps. I’m off shopping now. Just boring stuff, for tonight’s supper. I don’t know what to cook yet. I quite fancy some pasta, but I guess it depends on what’s in the supermarket.
- Enjoy your trip!
So, in terms of summing up the golden thread, what do you suggest? Click below for my answer.
- A two-hour Cambridge tour itinerary
- Note to designer: Revisit itinerary, above, and red pen paragraphs 2, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 10 on click of reveal button.
If you’ve come up with something similar, I would agree. That seems to sum up the narrative, short, sharp and simple style.
As for striking an electronic line through my wanderings of waffle, click here for my suggestions.
Most importantly, can you see how much sharper and more effective my message is if I follow the golden thread? Not to mention saving me work by preventing me going off on those annoying asides.
Finally for our quick tour of Chapter 1, a video game for you. I’ve put together this two-minute presentation on the essentials of good communication, but I’m not sure I’ve done very well.
How many errors can you spot? And just to cheer me up, please also keep an eye out for which parts work better!
When you’ve had a think, you can look below the video to reveal the answers.
VIDEO
So, how many errors did you spot? And was there anything good about that mini lecture? Click here to see our thoughts.
Click to reveal this: (please feel free to design however will work best. Highlighted are the points to make with explanation below in italics)
Hello, and so to the essentials of good communication. I’d also like to talk a little about Cambridge. It’s a remarkable city, with its hundreds of years of history and learning. That’s before we get to the buzz of such an international community, with people from so many countries.
Bad – digression.
Anyway, sorry, the essentials of communication. As this is a Cambridge University book, I had better adopt a proper learned and august tone. Thus, herein follows a more pedagogical modus operandi, given the requirements of a didactic and scholastic tome.
So, unto those rudiments of scribing and orating. One must be clear on the nature of one’s narrative. One must also retain at the forefront of one’s mind the audience one is addressing, in order to ensure they feel the communique being propagated is specific to their needs.
Bad on two counts – unnecessarily long and rarely used words. It’s also stuffily and starchily written, which is not my authentic style of communication at all.
Or maybe I mean you should always be clear on who your audience is. That way you can talk their language, whether that’s academic or general public, and so make sure you’re understood. You also need to tightly define what you’re trying to say. People don’t have the attention span, mental capacity, or indeed patience for tangents.
Much better on two counts. Simple, easily understood language, and written in my authentic style.
Oh, I forgot to mention when I was talking about Cambridge, we have some great restaurants, pubs and cafes too. Even better if you can visit on a sunny day and sit by the graceful River Cam.
Bad – another digression.
Sorry, sorry, back to effective communication. You can be sure you’re clear on your story by using the journalist’s trick of deciding the angle – the theme which runs through it – from the start. Keep your use of language simple, and not pedagogical, didactic and scholastic.
Write or speak in your own unique style. Character is critical for powerful communication. Even if it’s sometimes cheesy humour like mine. Sorry again!
Good on two counts – simple language, apart from pedagogical, didactic and scholastic which were included as a contrast to the rest of the writing to help make the point. This is also written in my own voice, and more natural, engaging and effective for it.
Finally, go on and on and on and on some more, even if you’ve said what you need to say, because lots and tonnes and piles and mounds and heaps of words is impressive, right?
Bad – trying to say too much. Just write what you need and then stop.
No! Wrong! Just say what you need to say and stop. Remember always, less is more.
Good on three counts – simple, in my own authentic style, and less is more.