In my third article in the “How Leaders Communicate” series, I examine how leaders entertain to engage and provide feed-forward.
6) Entertain to engage
Voltaire is reputed to have said that any speaking style that wasn’t boring was a good style. That’s because being boring is the unforgivable sin of communication.
For a leader to be heard and understood, he or she must break preoccupation and grab attention, in other words, entertain. That means a leader captures and holds the attention of those being addressed.
As a young lad, I once asked then State Senator David Johnson for advice about public speaking. His words permanently affected me. He said, “Always remember that people want to be entertained. Whether you’re giving a sermon, teaching a class or giving a speech, people want to be entertained.”
You can’t bore people into positive action.
7) Feedback and feed-forward
If Wheaties is the breakfast of champions, then feedback is the breakfast of winning communicators.
The best way to make sure another person has heard and understood what you said is to ask them to repeat it back to you in their own words. (But I advise not saying, “Now repeat it back to me in your own words” unless you want to alienate that person.) Just request a summary, and take responsibility for any lack of understanding. You could say, “I want to make sure I explained that clearly. Would you please tell me how you understand what I’ve said?”
The best way to make sure another person has heard and understood what you said is to ask them to repeat it back to you in their own words. (But I advise not saying, “Now repeat it back to me in your own words” unless you want to alienate that person.) Just request a summary, and take responsibility for any lack of understanding. You could say, “I want to make sure I explained that clearly. Would you please tell me how you understand what I’ve said?”
One of the corniest stories I know is about a man driving up a mountain road in a jeep. Coming down the mountain in the other lane is a woman in a jeep. As she passes, she leans out and yells “Pig!”
The man is offended! She is calling him a name and making a judgment on his character.
The man is offended! She is calling him a name and making a judgment on his character.
As he looks back in his rearview mirror at the woman behind him, he smashes into a hog that is standing in the middle of the road.
That woman wasn’t criticizing him, but rather giving him feedback limited by time. Had circumstances allowed, she might have said, “There is a large farm animal ahead in the middle of the road—be careful!”
Such are the pitfalls of communication. When leaders don’t take time to communicate clearly, the potential for misunderstanding—and even disaster—is high.
Feedback is excellent for adjusting your message and assuring understanding, but it is “after-the-fact.” To increase the odds of future success, you can use feed forward, which provides people with the information they need to be successful before they undertake something.
Feedback provides evaluation of what has been done.
Feed forward clarifies expectations of what needs to be accomplished. It gives people the answers to the final exam in advance.
Feedback focuses on past performance.
Feed forward focuses on future performance. It talks specifically about what a successful performance will be like and enrich the description to enrich the outcome.
Feedback is remedial.
Feed forward is intended to be preventative. Rather than waiting until later to determine if you’ve communicated clearly, information is provided to prevent possible problems
In the first 2 articles in the “How Leaders Communicate” series, I discussed how leaders sell and 5 ways they influence. In the next 2 articles of the series, I’ll examine 3 more ways leaders communicate. Visit http://www.marksanborn.com/ for more resources.
