Five tips on being a clear communicator

As a project professional, you need to be a clear communicator. We’re in an age of information overload, so people need to receive the important messages in a way that will actually cut through. Yet the ability to communicate well is often seen as secondary to project expertise.

Here’s how to sharpen your communication skills and really land what you’re trying to say…

1. Know your audience

The first step is to be absolutely clear about who you’re talking to, from their expertise to their motivations.

“What’s their level of knowledge of the thing you’re talking about?” asks Max Dickins, Director of Hoopla Impro, which offers corporate training in communication. “And what’s in it for them, in everything you’re saying? These are basic questions, but people who are bad at communicating don’t stop to think about them.”

Dickins adds that your message will land better if it’s clear that this is about them. They’re the hero of the story, not you.

“Your job as a communicator is to give the hero the tools to get something they want or solve a problem they have,” he adds.

2. Tailor your message – and the medium

Even in an era of bite-sized content and short attention spans, people will still absorb longer-form content if you present it in a way that’s engaging and easy to consume.
In most situations, you should stick to language that’s as simple as possible, and ensure the gold isn’t buried beneath unnecessary detail.

Ros Atkins, BBC journalist and author of The Art of Explanation, raised this issue in his interview for the 100th episode of APM Podcast.

“If you’re overseeing a big project and pushing a lot of information to someone, and it’s surrounded by a lot of other information that isn’t relevant, the person may think it’s not for them,” he said.

This may cause further knock-on problems.

“They’ll resent the fact they’re having to work to find the information that’s right for them,” he added. “And you may send a broader message that you’re not making the effort to give them the information that’s most important.”

3. Remember, it’s a two-way street

Laura Ewen ChPP, a Director in KPMG’s Major Projects Advisory team, offers her personal tips as a Chartered Project Professional working in large-scale project environments.

“There’s an old phrase that we have two ears and one mouth, and we should use them in this proportion,” she says.

Ewen contends that projecting body language to show you are actively listening, and creating a space for others to feel comfortable to share, is as much a form of communication as any other.

“To demonstrate you’re listening, asking to run things back is really helpful, both to show you have been listening and to confirm what you’ve heard,” she says.

4. Be ready to adapt

If you’re going into a meeting or presentation where you’re likely to be asked challenging questions, try to anticipate them and practise your response.

While you should plan the bulk of what you’re trying to say, good communication isn’t about having the perfect script in your head and sticking to it. It means being focused on your audience and amending your approach as required.

“Allow yourself to be changed in the moment by what’s happening in front of you,” says Dickins. “That means being present. See where you need to slow down or give an example, and where people want more colour or greater involvement.”

5. Breathe and smile

One major impediment to clear communication is nerves, which can scramble the best-laid plans of even the most accomplished speakers.

Ewen points out that anxiety is founded on uncertainty. If you overdo your preparation, you risk worrying more about the things you still don’t know.

She also suggests practising breath work, as uncontrolled breathing often lies at the root of nervousness. “Resetting to counts of eight in and out really helps,” she says.

She also believes in the power of smiling – because it brings animation to your face and intonation to your voice, serving as a helpful cue to garner more engagement from your audience, and another means of making you feel more comfortable.

“I’m quite a smiley person naturally, but when I am overly concentrating, I can forget to smile,” she says. “If you’re still getting used to delivering presentations, especially virtually, try videoing yourself. It will make for a slightly uncomfortable watch, but it will be hugely enlightening!”