Tag Archives: communicate effectively

Get what you want, more often: how to communicate with busy people

In any job, it is likely that you’ll have to communicate with people in writing, be it applying, asking for help or for others to do something for you. This is something we do without much thought, we just write what we want to convey. But, have you ever sent off an email and had no response? Crickets…

Everyone is very busy. If you asked your colleagues, friends or family, I can almost guarantee most would say they wish they had more time. People get on average 100 messages a day, and in the working world, 100 emails a day. So when we are communicating with people, we are asking them to give us some of their already precious time, amongst a sea of other requests. When I’m asking someone to give me some of their time, it’s important I make my request as clear as possible, and make the time-commitment as little as possible because that means they are more likely to do whatever it is I’m asking.

There is a great talk by Todd Rogers from Harvard University detailing the science of corresponding with busy people. However, on the topic of saving time, here are the five points on how to more effectively communicate with people.

1. Use as few words as possible

  • We think we really need to set the scene for a request, often leading with an explanation of what we are doing and finishing with a request of the reader. However, reading big blocks of text makes most people’s eyes gloss over. A more effective way to communicate is to just cut to the chase. Introduce yourself and ask your question, cut the lengthy explanation in the middle. Rogers showed when the number of words is reduced, focussing on only the main point, there was a 78% higher response rate.
  • This is counter intuitive, because we would assume more information explaining why someone should do our request would improve response rates, but it doesn’t, it just makes people lose attention.

2. Make the text as easy to read as possible

  • The more effort the reader has to put in to read your text, the less likely they are to respond. Think about most academic papers, it’s really hard to focus because it is often written to be understood by experts. Compare that to a buzzfeed article, it’s hard to stop reading it is so simply written. Obviously they are two extremes, but the point is, if you write something as basic as possible, it will be more likely to be read.
  • The way to do this is to reduce the number of syllables per word, ie. simple words; reduce the number of words per sentence, stick to one simple idea; and keep the grammar simple.

3. Use formatting to direct attention

  • If you write something in a block of text with no paragraphs, no highlighting or bolding, you’re not letting people skim easily, making them less likely to actually take any of it in. You WANT people to be able to skim your writing, so make the important parts bolded or highlighted. I’m sure when you read the paragraph in point 1, you read the heading, then the highlighted section, with my main point.
  • Highlighting is a powerful way to draw attention, but it can also work against you, because it makes people less likely to read the rest of the text, so use it carefully. Also, do not overuse it, because if you highlight a whole paragraph, it loses its power, and nothing becomes highlighted. Think back to a time when you highlighted paragraphs in textbooks, I guarantee not much of it stuck.

4. Make the key information obvious and noticeable

  • Ensure that your main points jump out to the reader immediately. Think the subject of an email, the first sentence, last sentence, bolded/highlighted sections. Allowing readers to skim the text makes a response more likely.

5. Make the response required as quick / easy as possible

  • If the person who is reading your request has to jump through hoops, no matter how simple it may be, the request is less likely to be met. A strategy I’ve employed is to re-phrase open ended questions like “What do you think about this …” which takes a long response, to be a closed-question, which is much simpler for the respondent, “I think this… please let me know if that is okay.” This just takes a simple “Yep, sounds good” from the respondent, making a response much more likely. Even better, depending on the situation, you could also say “I am planning on doing XXX, please let me know if that is not okay.” By doing that, you are making them opt-out, so you don’t even require a response.

Summary

Everyone is very busy so its important our communication is as clear and easy on the reader as possible

  • Write as simply, and as briefly as possible
  • Use formatting to allow people to skim the most important parts
  • Make the response as easy as possible

I recommend watching the video for a more in-depth explanation of how effective these strategies are and some more concrete examples of them.