Archiv der Kategorie: Communication

Communication consists of perception, thought models and communication behavior.

Word choice – the third door into the mind of the public

The right word in the right moment has a large influence, whether you arrive in the consciousness of the listeners and readers or not. For this purpose all words are available. The back door to additional expression is provided by intonation and posture as well as pictures and sounds. The third door, or even portal, into the head of the audience, is the choice of the words.

word

This time we will look at nouns, which describe concrete objects and beings as well as abstract terms, which do not denote concrete ideas. As a way into the mind of the audience you can use keywords, stigma words, invented words, acronyms and synonyms.

  • Keywords
    are topic-related words that describe the substantial contents of a statement. They provide the information for the understanding and anchor it in the memory of the audience. They convey the actual messages and convictions that are not visible at first sight, like values, habits, presuppositions and the affiliation to a certain culture. The context, in which they are used, determines its meaning.
    Let’s look at the word liberalization in the context of negotiations for creating new markets (e.g. TTIP or TISA). Liberalization means here: Deregulation of the public procurement, release of anything that is not explicitly legally forbidden. Nevertheless the word liberalization has also positive connotations – liberal, tolerant, informal. However, the context creates the other meaning.
    Therefore you should bother to create an appropriate context when you convey a message, in order to enforce the desired effect of the words.
  • Stigma words
    are words that classify adversely, burden the text with negative feelings and divert attention from the core statements. Examples are words such as black people, in place of Afro-American, gypsy, in place of Sinti and Roma, or Business terms such as crisis, in place of difficulty, or propaganda, instead of advertisement. At the same moment these words can be positive for others and thus be flag words. A good example is the word socialism – for some people it is the perfect bogeyman, for the others a meaningful ideal. There is a danger that stigma words cause negative feelings within the target audience and thus superimpose the actual message.
    In business, there are equally loaded words. An example is error. Many people consider this word as negative, since defects or faults are interpreted as the consequence of conscious or sloppy misconduct. That most errors come from misfortunes, blunders or poorly planned concepts is not considered thereby.
    Therefore formulations should be checked concerning their effect on the target audience and be replaced with neutral words or even positive ones.
  • Catchwords/ invented words/ ad-hoc compounds
    should support the topic and, whenever possible, adopt the jargon of the target group, in order to increase the acceptance. Catchwords like innovative, flexible, dedicated and optimal can be translated (e.g. innovative=inventive or full of ideas; flexible=adaptable or mobile; dedicated=active or committed; optimal=best possible or perfect.).
    Invented words are built from parts of words and provide a comprehensible description of new meaning – Genglish (GErman + eNGLISH) the mixed use of German and English; Bollywood (BOmbay + hoLLYWOOD) the Indian film industry; Brexit (BRitain + EXIT) the withdrawal of Great Britain from the European Union; Bionics (BIology + techNICS) use of natural phenomena in the technology. In German you simply combine words to new ad-hoc connections – change-goal-corridor, strategy-trap, requirement-change-management, and risk-potential-deviation-analysis.
    The understanding of a message becomes difficult with these words, which have for the time of being no generally accepted meaning. Therefore it better to avoid these words or at least clarify them with an understandable interpretation.
  • Abbreviations/ Acronyms
    are parts of words and word sequences that are arranged to letter sequences. They are often recognized as letter word due to the lack of vocals and remain incomprehensible without background knowledge or explanation. Depending upon context there are more or less interpretations available (e.g. PLC= public limited corporation or Palestinian Legislative Council or Product Life Cycle; PS= power supply or Photoshop or Polysulfide; SB= see below or silver bullet or Santa Barbara; CP= communist party or contingency plan; MB= megabyte or men in black).
    For this reason these artificially created abbreviations do not help in conveying information, if they are not at least explained, when it occurs for the first time, and documented in a glossary.
  • Synonyms
    are words with a same or similar meaning. For example road can be replaced by the following words: Lane, route, park way, boulevard, country road, and alleyway. On closer look the synonyms supply additional meanings. The lane is the place where traffic takes place. A route is a marked-out road. A park way is a road lined with trees. A boulevard is a main street in a big city. A country road is a small, often unpaved road in the country. An alleyway is a road with high walls on both sides. There are also synonyms that describe a similar function from different perspectives. The word transparency has on the one hand the meaning translucency and light permeability. On the other hand it means honesty, openness and frankness.
    Due to the broad meaning, synonyms are only useful, if they provide additional information to the topic. For stylistic purpose synonyms avoid the repetitive use of always the same word, but they soften the messages.

The personal vocabulary is defined by the personal experiences, especially through newspapers, magazines, scientific papers and books that you read. In order to improve the vocabulary, it is inevitable to take care of the texts that other people write.

Bottom line: The word choice has a large influence on the effect of your texts and presentations. To use the right keywords, to avoid certain stigma words, invented words and abbreviations as well as the skillful selection of synonyms improve the understandability of your messages.

Listening

The urge of letting others knowing your stand point drives some people with a prepared script into a conversation. Almost like a voice recording the dialogue starts and unwound without break. Normally the content is coherent. The outline contains the relevant aspects. Occasionally, the audience participation is inserted in terms of questions. The own point of view is well elaborated and provided with a catchy conclusion. Nevertheless, the discussion does not lead to the desired end. On closer look, you recognize that you missed the opportunity to listen to the listeners.

Listen

A conversation consists less of talking but of listening. What you hear provides so much contents that you could limit your talking on what the listener is really interested in.

  • Do the counterparts ask questions?
    The best hint for additionally needed information is a straight question by the listeners. This enables to adapt your expression in such a way that the others can better understand. It is a bad luck, not to notice these questions. On the one hand you miss the opportunity to express yourself appropriately. On the other hand negative feelings grow within the questioner. For this reason you should enlarge on questions under all circumstances. Even if it is only the indication that you answer all questions at the end.
  • Do the participants seem to lack some information?
    The listeners often use the moment, when the speaker takes a breath, to step into the breach in order to also say something. This is usually feedback that clarifies, what was understood so far or what might be missing. If you listen attentively, you can hear these misunderstandings and react with additional explanations. As speaker you should be better prepared, as the participants. Therefore you are able to provide the appropriate clarification.
  • Do the counterparts have no additional information need, if they are asked?
    At the end of the presentation in any case you should ask, whether there are open issues that came up within the conversation. If there are questions that go beyond what you know, you can later deliver the appropriate information. If there are no further wishes, it is the right time to agree about the next steps and to terminate the conversation. When you finish earlier than planned, it is great. The counterparts will be grateful to be given some unplanned time.

Additionally it is worthwhile to take a look between the lines.

  • Are the counterparts in positive mood?
    The positive tendency of the opposite can be seen, if they listen attentively nodding and smiling.
  • Are there signs of disinterest?
    As soon as the gaze of the listeners deviates to the mobile phone or the watch or the listeners start yawning, the ice becomes very thin. In this case you can arouse renewed interest by raising the voice, changing your posture or through a deviating comment.
  • Do people show resistance?
    Facial expressions, gestures and postures show resistances. A turned down mouth or a grasp to the forehead or, if an opposite turns away, indicate a large probability that resistance is growing. This can go so far that the participants start disturbing.

At the end of the discussion it is helpful to briefly summarize the results. If the audience signals agreement, then you reached the end of the conversation. However, you should not expect that everything is already understood or that an agreement has reached. It takes at least one night, in order to give the batch run in the mind the opportunity to reconsider the results. Afterwards nothing or everything bars the way to getting a closing.

Bottom line: The discussion consists not only of talking, but, above all, of listening. In the feedback of the counterparts you find hints about their needs. At the same time the body speaks a clear language. By observing attentively the counterparts you get important reference points concerning their mood. On this basis, you can design conversations more effectively. Therefore – more listening.