Communications are a two-way process. You can be certain of what you communicated, but how can you be sure what you communicated was understood by the receiver?
The assurance of your message being understood begins with the message and the manner of delivery. Here are some general guidelines for assuring that your message is clearly communicated.
- Communicate just one message at a time. Don’t confuse the receiver with multiple messages and make them sort through them.
- Express your message in clear language. Don’t try to “sugar coat” tough messages. Don’t try to embellish the message.
- Use the appropriate media. Detailed messages need to be written. Oral messages should contain minimal content. Both formats may be useful as reinforcements.
- Give an example to support your message. People learn from examples as much as they do words because examples create visual images.
You can evaluate whether your message is being understood by one or more of the following:
- Ask the receiver: “Tell me what you just heard.”
- Ask the receiver to do something in response to the message. This will at least give you the assurance that the message was received. The quality of the response should be a good indicator of whether the message was properly received.
All of us can improve on our ability to make our messages better received. You can accelerate your ability to communicate by informally asking others how they might suggest you improve your message delivery.