{"id":287,"date":"2012-03-13T20:50:00","date_gmt":"2012-03-13T20:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/?p=287"},"modified":"2015-03-09T09:30:11","modified_gmt":"2015-03-09T13:30:11","slug":"organizing-our-thoughts-for-quick-delivery-and-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/organizing-our-thoughts-for-quick-delivery-and-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Organizing Our Thoughts for Quick Delivery and Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"
Hello fellow communication enthusiasts,<\/span><\/div>\n
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Today\u2019s tip is on organizing one\u2019s thoughts better so that we can speak faster and easier to others, especially when we are put on the spot or in a fast-paced work environment.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Think of your intended message as an iceberg, floating in the ocean.\u00a0 We can see the tip from the land and sea, but we cannot see the rest of the iceberg, typically 90%, until we go under water.\u00a0 We know it\u2019s there but our first impression is based on the tip of the iceberg that we see.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
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When you deliver a thought or message you essentially have 2 choices \u2013 to start with the 10% \u2018point\u2019 or the 90% \u2018body\u2019.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
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Our goal should be to summarize our information into just the main point, and deliver it as precisely as possible and in as few sentences as possible.\u00a0 After delivery, wait for a response to see if you need to continue into further details.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
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For example, if someone asks you what you did on the weekend, you have two ways to answer: <\/span><\/div>\n
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1.\u00a0 \u201cI took the kids to the water park for some fun times.\u00a0 It was great!\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
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2. \u201cI took my 3 kids, Jack, Jill and Mary to Wave-O-Rama Water Park, you know the one just outside the city?\u00a0 Anyway we spent the day walking around, looking at some interesting sites, of course playing in the water too!\u00a0 They had slides, wading pools, water gun fighting and a bunch of other stuff.\u00a0 It was great and I really recommend you take your family there soon!\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
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Now there is nothing wrong with #2 if the other person wanted all the extra info.\u00a0 The challenge is in knowing if he or she really wanted all the details, right?\u00a0 So it could be that you are giving valuable extra information, or it could be that you are giving what they consider non-important and boring extra information!\u00a0 That\u2019s tricky.<\/span><\/div>\n
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In answer #1 you have answered the question directly and precisely, and are now waiting and watching\/listening to understand if your conversation partner wants any extra details.\u00a0 They will ask if they want or need more info.\u00a0 They will continue on if they do not. \u00a0Simple.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Our above example is a personal dialogue, but the iceberg theory of giving information or answering questions works very well in business discussions too.\u00a0 So from now on, practice giving a shorter, more direct answer (with appropriate tone though<\/em>) especially when you are in a busy or fast-paced environment.\u00a0 It will save you and your conversation partner time and allow you to be better organized in the presentation of answers and information.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
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That\u2019s all for today folks.\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
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Thank you,<\/span><\/div>\n
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Coach Ric<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello fellow communication enthusiasts, Today\u2019s tip is on organizing one\u2019s thoughts better so that we can speak faster and easier to others, especially when we are put on the spot or in a fast-paced work environment. Think of your intended message as an iceberg, floating in the ocean.\u00a0 We can see the tip from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[534,537],"tags":[608,606],"class_list":["post-287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-professional-communications","category-speak-english-better","tag-organize-thoughts","tag-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":630,"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions\/630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.communicationcoach.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}