Photo by Courtnie Tosana on Unsplash
I’ve worked in technical fields throughout my career, using words that most people would simply not understand. A key skill has been to make these things understandable and relatable for anyone.
In the UK government, I went through writing policy on European Accessibility, coordinating statutory instruments for a wide berth of policy areas from product safety to state aid. Now I work on policy around sustainability including terms like net zero, circular economy and industrial decarbonisation. That’s not even mentioning my interest in the spiritual side of personal development and diversity and inclusion.
So I’ve had my fair share of technical topics. I could easily bamboozle the people around me through specialist language, acronyms and obscure terminology. But learning to explain things to people in simple, short sentences has greatly enhanced my ability to get people to actually care about the stuff I’m talking about. Unfortunately, many people are not doing this very basic step, even though it is available to all of us.
I’m really grateful for my time when I worked in government. Our ministers would expect simple, clear language to explain complex issues. The skill to write clearly and effectively is such an important one, and it’s one which is grossly lacking in our complex world.
There is a great missed opportunity for many professionals because they cannot explain things to the layperson. Many very important causes are left into the niches of society, only attracting other subject matter experts who congregate to deepen their understanding of terminology.
One of the really refreshing things about connecting with the coaching world is that it’s a real eye opener as to how much I’m influenced by the bubble I’m in. I remember speaking to a coach about an event I was working on at COP26 (the large climate conference which was taking place in Glasgow two years ago). Once I finished speaking, she asked me what COP was, as she hadn’t heard of it. Considering my existence in the sustainability world is so focussed on such events, it was a wake-up call that most people don’t actually really care about the stuff I do.
Some of my biggest successes has been to speak in clear, relatable language. I wrote a paper to my executive committee with recommendations on race, the first time a network lead had been invited to the highest level of the organisation. All the recommendations were agreed because they were clear and properly explained within two pages without needing additional context. It sounds obvious, but when people actually understand what you’re saying, they’re far more likely to engage.
There’s plenty of space for me to develop here too – yesterday I continued on my Toastmasters pathway with a speech on my leadership journey. Whilst I did a strong speech with a lot of colour, I was a tad guilty of trying to cram in a bit too much. My mind can move very fast, so I wanted to share about three different stories in one speech. I can sometimes overwhelm the people I’m speaking to because of how quickly I’m moving from one topic to the next. So I can improve by slowing down and focussing on a single idea more concretely.
The fascinating thing about personal development is how personal it is. I share my own experiences to demonstrate that we can always continue learning. But the challenges I face are very unlikely to be the same for you. The gift is being able to see what areas we can improve upon, and communication is a key part of our lives.
When I work with coaching clients, a lot of my work is reflecting on how people are showing up in the world. Our gestures and subtle actions say so much about our state of mind. When we are stressed, we are unlikely to be open to receiving people’s energy. This can mean we miss key social and emotional cues from the people around us. We risk falling more into the spiral of stress due to the frustration that this causes.
If you find you’re not being received in the way you like, the first place to look is how clear you are being. Remember, if you’re not clear with yourself, it’s nearly impossible that the other person will get your message clearly either.
Fortunately there are several ways of improving our communication. Simply taking a breath goes a long way in changing the energy we are giving. It also allows us more space to think about how we are being received, rather than only on what we are saying. Clubs like Toastmasters are also great for this due to the amount of feedback you get. If you don’t know anything about Toastmasters, feel free to ask me in a DM. Coaching can give a more in-depth look at how you’re showing up in the world. This gives a chance to go even deeper and explore underlying behaviour. If there’s something that has come up from this article which you’d like to explore further, I’m more than happy to have a conversation with you.