Great communication in a nutshell
Great communication in a nutshell: Fade the non-essential andamplify the essential.
Blog
Daily Thoughts on Clarity
New posts every weekday
Get it in your inbox:
Read More »
The biggest confidence hack
The biggest confidence hack? Find the words you truly believe in about the things you deeply believe in. Lack of confidence mostly means lack of
Effortlessness
Looking at masterful communicators, you could get the feeling that they have a natural talent for communication, some sort of unfair advantage to find the
A no-brainer
If customers knew everything that you know, it would be a no-brainer for them to buy from you, right? They would queue up in an
The dishonesty of paid speaking
Something’s wrong in the professional speaking world and it’s paying to speak. There’s a significant number of large scale events where many of the speakers
Who is “us”?
This week, I’m asking one simple but important question each day for you to ponder (on your own or with your team): When a customer
Your marketing agency’s words
This week, I’m asking one simple but important question each day for you to ponder (on your own or with your team): When you read
Aligned on a common path
This week, I’m asking one simple but important question each day for you to ponder (on your own or with your team): As a CEO,
Would they still buy?
This week, I’m asking one simple but important question each day for you to ponder (on your own or with your team): If you told
Their brilliance
This week, I’m asking one simple but important question each day for you to ponder (on your own or with your team): Good communicators know
Are you willing to compromise?
A word of caution: You’re never going to find focus if you’re not willing to compromise. Focusing means making decisions and dismissing many paths in
Sorry, first ideas are sold out
I’m sorry to have to inform you that first ideas have already been taken. Not that first ideas had ever been a good deal (except
It’s how you say what you say
There’s this never ending battle between two camps: In the left corner we have team WOW who insists that it’s mainly how you say something
Making the complex feel simple
Rule no. 1 in communication is brutal: If they didn’t get it, they didn’t get it. That’s why great communicators take full responsibility for the
Getting from here to there
A simple truth: If you care for what you do, there’s always going to be more interesting things to say than you’ve got time to
Ideas that spread
How many businesses have you seen fail because there was no easy way to tell your friends what they actually do? How many ideas have
Cliffhangers
Cliffhangers s*ck. You wanna know so badly what happens next but the show just won’t tell you. You’ll have to come back for the next
10 thoughts on focus
The best communicators find the courage to cut to the core, separate the signal from the noise and direct everyone’s energy on what matters most.
How is this different?
When you’re building a new product, the question “How is it different?” is mostly pointless. Because “different” can be hugely misleading as a metric. Business
When clarity emerges
When clarity emerges, it immediately dissolves. Clarity invites new possibilities and opens up new directions. Which inevitably push clarity away. If you pursue the possibilities,
Clarity is in the eye of the beholder
No matter how hard you try to make your statements as clear as possible, you’ll only ever know whether they are actually clear once you
Two comedians
Recently, I’ve been to two shows by two different comedians. The first show was sold out in a large event hall with 1500 seats. The
Top speakers
Top speakers excel at speaking thanks to repetition. They deliver (basically) the same speech hundreds of times. If you listen to them multiple times in
Would they agree?
When you think that this little detail is crucially important in your communication and can’t be left out under any circumstances, would your customers agree?
The urgent and the important
Some things are urgent, others are important.Some things are both, others are neither. If you’re managing a project, spending your time on things that are
Your problem
People love to turn their problem into your problem. “I got a call on the phone so I’m late to the meeting.” “My parking lot
What if?
“What if we were only allowed to use environmentally friendly supply?” “What if we had to cut the price by half?” “What if we had
The better deal
I’ve seen many pitches end in frustration as a result of begging for a yes. Sometimes that works. But often it doesn’t. The thing is:
Handcrafted plates
Plates used to be handmade. Today, almost all plates are machine made. Most people are just fine with this but some still care for handcrafted
Moments of silence
When we’re about to give a talk we’re mostly concerned about the words we’re going to say. We’re not so used to think about the
How I wrote my first book
When my Physics course in (the german equivalent of) high school started, my teacher made us an offer: “For every single topic that we cover
Not so easy
Most questions that are worth investing the time to prepare a presentation for don’t have an easy yes-or-no answer. If there would be an easy
Body language tricks
The biggest lever to appearing confident on stage isn’t body language. It’s saying what you mean. When we don’t believe in the words we use,
Rational decision
Reminder: As humans we love to rationalize our decisions – rather than make rational decisions. That’s true for your customers, too. Therefore, it’s useful to
Being right
It’s easy to win forgiveness for being wrong; being right is what gets you into real trouble. – Bjarne Stroustrup As a leader, it’s your
Repeating yourself
Say something often and people will start to believe it. Repetition doesn’t make the thing you repeat any more true or false but people are
Valuing my time
In a fast paced world like ours, attention is among the most precious resources of any audience. Which makes the ability to find the words
After the pitch
After your pitch what happens? Often a pitch doesn’t lead to an immediate decision: “Thank you very much, we’ll think about it.” That’s why great
Getting likes
Speaking of what you want to be known for: Make content around that, not what your audience is giving you likes for. What works in
What do you want to be known for?
What do you want to be known for? You won’t believe how many businesses don’t have a compelling answer to that simple question. And yet,
Now it’s clear, now it’s not
As we make progress, things tend to become more complex. Even if we started from a position of total clarity, new ideas pop up, new
Attention to detail
Attention to detail is not the same thing as perfectionism.You can value the former and still beware of the latter. Attention to detail means caring
Super focused communication
“So, what was the talk about?” The best communicators don’t leave this to chance. They carefully focus their story to deliver a lasting impact. The
How not to change minds
Insisting that you are right and the others are wrong has never changed anyone’s opinion. Repeating the same arguments, only louder, doesn’t work, either. Making
Sales
Have you ever been tricked into buying something you didn’t even want? Perhaps the salesperson just found the right words to trick you into the
The hunt for visibility
Look at me!Look at me!Look at me!Look at me!Look at me!Look at me!Look at me!Look at me! In the hunt for visibility, the space is
The one who asks the question
“Wait, what is this for exactly?” This simple question brought the meeting to a screeching halt. No-one had a compelling answer – despite the fact
The best listeners
“The best musicians are not the best players, they’re the best listeners.” – Pat Metheny Pat Metheny has won an incredible 20 Grammys and he
Hot rotation
Hits are made in the hot rotation.That’s just as true for the huge no. 1 hits as it is for your personal favorites. When we
Leaders with dim light
Lighting the path is hard when your light is dim. Saying X but doing Y as a leader crushes any team. The same is true
Counter-force
Force tends to create counter-force.Push me and I’ll resist.Pull me and I’ll resist. But show me why it’s worthwhile to get there, and I’ll happily
Focus: excellent
Now Taylor knows. And can act accordingly. She took my self-assessment and uncovered her core strength: focus, being able to cut to the core. She
The quest for amazing words
Here’s one of the biggest roadblocks for making a better impact with your communication: The ambition to find the most amazing words for saying what
I’ve figured it all out
A professor once told me: “When you’ve graduated from school you think you know it all. When you’ve graduated from college you know that you
The devil’s cute advocate
There are two ways to play the devil’s advocate game: the serious way and the cute way. The cute way goes like this: Think of
Open to change
Wow opens their mind. Aha changes their mind. Both are better together. Aha moments can’t happen when your audience doesn’t pay attention. Wow moments are
The coaching spectrum
A lot of coaching focuses on fixing the coachee. Someone has a problem and visits a coach to help them overcome it and pull them
The fear of practicing
Most people feel at least a little anxiety when they think about their next talk. One of the nasty tricks of that anxiety is that
The overlooked part of pitch preparation
When you’re pitching an idea, the actual pitch presentation is only part of the conversation. Sometimes a small part. And yet, it often gets all
The proud hustler
The hustler is proud of that they made it. They worked the night through and hit the submit button one minute before the deadline. Which
Sophistication
Complexity tends to give the impression of sophistication. But actual sophistication lies in making things simpler, not more complex. So, let’s not make this more
Waiting for the CEO
I sometimes meet two very different kinds of CEOs. One is OK to have their team wait. After all, the CEO is the most important
The beginning of the story
Congratulations! You made the deal happen! Is it the end of the story? Or the beginning? Some businesses are only ever interested in getting deals.
The not so obvious aspect of how you show up
Eat. Drink. Sleep. Turn off your phone. When you’re going into a high stakes meeting or when you’re about to enter the stage to give
Being prepared for the bad days
On the great days, you could just wing it. When you’re in the flow and the words just fly by, when you’re getting energy out
Explorations
What would happen if you made it more fun?Used some pink? Or instead made it a bit more subtle? What if you told a story?Or
Backwards stories
Some of the best crime stories work backwards. We witness the murder and know who’s the murderer right from the start. And then we want
Oh, you’re talking to me!
Good communication is easy to understand.Great communication is relevant. If I can’t see why that sophisticated solution you’re so eloquently explaining isn’t for me, I
Bad presentation jokes
It’s a beloved coffee break activity at conferences and in between meetings: Making fun of bad presentations. The funniest aspect of this, though, is that
What a like means
When people click the like button on a post, it can mean very different things. For example: I like that piece.I like that person.I want
Winning pitches
When you’re pitching an idea … … clear beats clever.… tangible beats sensational.… plain English beats jargon. I have yet to see an exception to
Doomed to fail
Many great ideas have died as a result of status fights. In the meeting room it became more important whose idea it was rather than
An unfair advantage
There’s this rare breed of communicators who just seem to nail it with every single word. They speak with such a level of clarity that
The first idea
Yesterday, I’ve spoken about how the first idea is often not the best idea. And yet, sometimes it is. The problem is that when that
The second idea
Usually, the first idea is not the most creative. Nor the funniest. It’s not the most sophisticated. Nor the clearest. But the second idea wouldn’t
The comfort of vagueness
Always be truthful in what you say.Kind of a no-brainer, isn’t it? But there are two directions from which to approach this ideal. First, you
The slickness of a great pitch
A great pitch doesn’t succeed because it’s slick. It succeeds because it’s clear. Slickness is a side-effect of clarity. With clarity comes slickness, not the
Where’s the comm support?
Every decently sized company runs an IT support department.No company runs a comm support. And yet, it could be one of the most profitable investments
If you struggle to cut to the core …
If you struggle to cut to the core, then try this simple approach. It works every time. Step 1: Commit to something as the core
A Myth is a myth is a … truth?
“Only 7% of communication relies on the actual words that are spoken.” This is the Mehrabian myth. It’s a widespread piece of “conventional wisdom” that
Better than the truth
If your customers knew everything you know, would they still buy? Well, of course they are never going to know everything, so the real question
What was being said?
It never ceases to amaze me how much time people spend in meetings without writing anything down. Which leads to time being wasted with repetitive
Irresistible
Today might be a good day to check out my podcast. After two years and more than 200 episodes it has a new name to
The leadership frequency trap
“I’ve said it a thousand times.” Well, you have. I totally get that you’re tired of repeating the message over and over again: You’re literally
Ambitious vs. satisfied
“I’m satisfied with what I have. I don’t need more.” It can be a huge source of frustration when ambitious leaders clash with this kind
What? You don’t enjoy public speaking?
“What do you mean you don’t enjoy public speaking?”My friend was surprised to learn that his peers had perceived him as a fantastic public speaker.
Is your own idea clear to you?
Here’s a simple test: If you can’t articulate it clearly, it’s not clear. If you want clarity, articulate your idea. Then refine what you said
3 questions
If the people on your team clearly see where we are going, why we are going there, and why we are going there, and if your actions suggest that you mean it (as opposed to just throwing some random motivational bullsh#t at them), it’s likely that the right people will be attracted and …
“How long?”
“How long?”, she asks the doctor.Immediately, we’re right in the middle of a story. Which is typical for modern movies. It’s one of the aspects
Singular
Secure the only spot at the airport that sells water and you can basically stop bothering about how you do business. It doesn’t really matter
Still missing
Which book didn’t you write but could have?Which speech didn’t you give but should have?What’s the blog that doesn’t exist although you could write it?
Compared to what?
You might copywrite a text faster than anyone else in town. But on the other side of the planet, I can find someone who writes
What else could work?
“One of the biggest strategic mistakes you can make is to fail to make the most of your victories. Yet even brilliant leaders sometimes make
Decoration and polish
When you decorate a diamond you make it less beautiful, not more. Diamonds need to be polished. Does your product need decoration or polish?
Edgy and weird
Average blends in.Edgy stands out. For example, there’s this super weird fashion store that draws an ever growing crowd of loyal superfans. It’s no wonder
The hero’s podium
The hero’s podium is a notoriously difficult place to be on. It means that all eyes are on you. Your job is no lesser than
Prepare! Present! Reflect! Repeat!
It’s that simple! This is the formula to turn yourself into a world class speaker – even if you feel like a terrible speaker today.
Curiosity has joined the party
Confusion’s best mate is Complexity.Clarity’s best mate is Curiosity. Luckily, Complexity and Curiosity are friends, too. When you need to explain a complex idea with
Culture Clash
When companies merge, cultures clash. The stronger the cultures, the bigger the clash; the bigger the clash, the stronger the future needs to be to
What matters most?
Short reminder: If you don’t decide on what matters most, you’re effectively delegating that decision to your audience. What’s your focus for today?
“Can all of you see my brilliance?”
Status updates are supposed to quickly inform everyone about the status of a project. Too often, though, these updates are much rather about the status
How to charge 8x the price
This Moleskine notebook costs €13. At your local grocery store, you can get a double pack of similarly looking, similarly equipped notebooks for €3. Why