By Ilse Blank, Founder, CQ Consulting
Regardless of where you are in your professional journey, it is never too early to start maturing your communication intelligence (CQ). Communication is a foundational skill for any successful manager and an essential one for leaders. It is no surprise that communication ranks in the top five skills required for modern leaders and is a core component of executive education programmes.
The 3Cs of communication – clarity, consistency and conciseness – directly impact your credibility as a communicator. Whether for personal or organisational branding, keeping this simple framework in mind will sharpen your communication maturity. Small improvements in each of these areas can exponentially influence what people hear, understand, feel, and how they respond.
Clarity. Misunderstandings arise when messages lack clarity. Achieving shared understanding in a clear, straightforward, and unambiguous way is easier said than done, particularly in multicultural and multilingual environments. To enhance clarity, focus on these three elements:
- Be audience-led. Understand your audience and tailor your message to their specific needs. Consider their expertise, interests, concerns, and context. Read the room—both figuratively and literally—and take your cues from your audience.
- Simplify complex concepts. Break down chunks of information or complex ideas into simpler, bite-size concepts. Use stories and visualisation to connect with your audience, creating a shared understanding framework.
- Be specific. Do the hard work for your audience and eliminate vagueness and guesswork. A good test is to have your audience repeat their understanding of your message and clarify as needed.
Consistency. Show up consistently in your communication. It is one of the most important ways to build trust and connect with your audience. Consistency plays a critical part in reinforcing your credibility. Ensure your verbal, non-verbal, and written messages align with your actions. This is also true for organisations. Mistrust grows when the lips move but the actions fail to materialise.
- Be clear about what you stand for – and do not stand for. Make sure that this is conveyed in all your key messages and becomes part of your values, language and behaviour.
- Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Sending an email is not enough. Reiterate your message at every opportunity, in different ways. Repetition solidifies complex concepts in the minds of your audience, which in turn encourages alignment and commitment.
- Channel consistency. Make it easy for your audience to believe you by showing up consistently across all channels. Avoid creating a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ experience for your audience that varies with each communication touchpoint.
Conciseness. Be brief. Be brilliant. Be gone. Concise communication respects the time of your audience and keeps the focus on what needs to be shared or acted upon.
- Stay on message. Identify your key message and stick to it. Avoid the temptation to muddy the waters with tangential ideas and unnecessary information.
- Visualise. With dwindling audience attention spans, use your words to create vivid mental images. Experiment with data visualisation; it is a powerful way to distil complex information and make your communication memorable.
- Edit ruthlessly. Kill redundant phrases, jargon, and filler words. If it does not serve a purpose in your message, it needs to go.
As you define and refine your communication strategy and key messaging, remember that credibility is not a destination but an ongoing journey of clear, consistent and concise interactions.
