Supercommunicator: Explaining the Complicated So Anyone Can Understand

206 Pages·2014·1.61 MB·English

by  Frank J. Pietrucha

SUPERCOMMUNICATOR
Explaining the Complicated So Anyone Can Understand
FRANK J. PIETRUCHA
American Management Association
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Pietrucha, Frank J.
Supercommunicator : explaining the complicated so anyone can understand / Frank J. Pietrucha.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8144-3368-3 (pbk.) ISBN-10: 0-8144-3368-5 (pbk.) 1. Communication of technical
information. 2. Communication. 3. Business communication. I. Title.
T10.5.P54 2014
302.2--dc23
2013041832
© 2014 Frank J. Pietrucha All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
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Dedicated to my parents, Frank Anthony and Dorothy Bol Pietrucha…
To my dad, the artist, who encouraged me to reach for the sky,
And my mom, the banker, who taught me to keep both feet firmly planted on
the ground.
Contents
Introduction: An Elephant Named Digital Communication
PART I
HOW DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IS CHANGING COMMUNICATION
1. Deliver Meaning
2. The Dawn of the Multimedia Age
3. What Is Multimedia?
4. Digital Media Changes the Way We Experience Information
5. Finding the Right Medium to Deliver Your Content
PART II
KNOW THY AUDIENCE
6. Why Smart People Misread Their Audiences
7. Learning About Your Audience
8. Addressing Multiple Audiences
9. Researching Cultural Issues
PART III
KNOW THY SUBJECT
10. If You Are Not a Subject Expert…
11. Advice for Content Experts
PART IV
SIMPLICITY AND CLARITY
12. Simplify Your Content
13. But Don't Oversimplify
14. Focus on Clarity
PART V
GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
15. Supercommunicator Basic Guidelines
PART VI
HUMANIZE YOUR COMMUNICATIONS
16. Find Your Human Voice
17. Speaking Human…Without the Human
18. It's Story Time!
19. Testimonials: A Supercommunicator's Win-Win
20. Case Examples That Make Learning Real
21. What Not to Do When Speaking Human
PART VII
GETTING AN AUDIENCE TO CARE
22. The Power of Personalization
23. Rational Thinking Isn't Always the Rational Choice
PART VIII
BUILDING BLOCKS AND ANALOGIES
24. Building a Path to Comprehension
25. The Power of Comparison
26. Analogies in a Professional Setting
PART IX
VISUAL AND INTERACTIVE
27. More than a Garnish
28. Quality and Integrity in Design
29. Visuals for Presentations
30. Let Your Audience Explore
31. Your Role as a Supercommunicator

A Debt of Gratitude
Notes
Index
About the Author
Free Sample Chapter from Lead with a Story by Paul Smith
INTRODUCTION
An Elephant Named Digital Communication
T
his book started out as a “how-to guide” on communicating complicated
topics…but something happened along the way.
My plan was to share with you my experiences as a communicator
specializing in helping clients explain subjects that most would consider difficult
or complex. My job is to make sure my clients' concepts are articulated in a way
that brings meaning to their ideas and turns the complicated into something
understandable. I work with engineers, scientists, economists, and others who
deal with big numbers and big concepts, and I assist them in molding their hard-
to-comprehend content into something that nonspecialists, the rest of us, can
readily grasp. Too often, potentially great projects are dismissed by management,
investors, and regulators simply because those decision makers can't understand
their value. But the communication of complicated ideas isn't just a corporate
problem. Many of us shut out new ideas in business and at home when there's
even a hint that the concept at hand may be too hard to figure out. Opportunities
can be missed and bad things can happen when content originators don't explain
their subjects in easy-to-understand language.
There's more need for my services than you can probably imagine. My career
has been anything but boring: I have helped engineers at NASA communicate
the Agency's need for information technology; I developed campaigns to help
officials improve their economies on behalf of George Washington University;
and I enabled dozens of startups to simplify their message for investors and
potential clients. It's always rewarding to help organizations with interesting but
complicated ideas explain themselves to the rest of the world.
To broaden the book beyond my own experiences and advice, I interviewed
other professional communicators to see what they considered their “best
practices” in communicating the complicated. I met some fascinating people
along the way, and all was going fine—but the more interviews I conducted, and
the more research I did, the more I realized the scope of the book needed to
change. There was an elephant in the room with me, staring at me all day as I
worked. Despite his mammoth size, I carried on like he wasn't using up all the
oxygen in the room. But I couldn't ignore him any longer. He got too big and
made too much noise. I knew I had to acknowledge his presence even if that
meant changing the focus of the book. That elephant is named digital
communication.
At the most basic level, new digital tools make it easier for people to access
complicated subjects. The recent rise in the use of video, audio, graphics, and
interactive features gives content producers the ammunition to fight battles in the
name of knowledge. In this book, I will use the term multimedia to describe a
broad range of communication tools. Multimedia means any type of presentation
that uses both words and graphics. It can be as simple as a poster board with text
and a photograph. Or it can be something more compelling—like data
visualization, which offers us new ways to turn boring data into effective
content. Infographics, for example, help us see meaning in things we couldn't
otherwise comprehend. And the Internet—which has made all of these tools
more accessible—has altered not only how we get information but also how we
express ourselves. Digital technology is rewiring our brains and reshaping how
we communicate.
What I learned from my years of explaining complicated subjects is still
extremely useful. All that I do to make technical topics easier for others—from
audience awareness to simplicity in writing to employing attention-grabbing
techniques—is still essential to my role as a communicator. But digital
technology is changing the rules about how we apply our skills in a transforming
world. Most of us need to do more thinking about digital technology and how to
strategically incorporate it into our communication efforts. No matter what new
features come our way, we still need to be mindful of the classic techniques that
have been employed by writers and orators for centuries. Winners in the
transition from print thinking to digital expression will be people who can
transfer classic communication styles to a uniquely modern paradigm.
Professionals “should learn to communicate with ordinary people. Then the
common people wouldn't be so common.”1
—JOHN L. BECKLEY
It's important for businesses to articulate who they are and what they do with
clarity and meaning in order to survive in a society where complicated material
is abundant. Our world is on the cusp of radical change as biotechnology,
artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, synthetic biology, and other
advancements come of age. The digital revolution breaks the centuries-old
tradition of knowledge being a precious commodity held by an elite few. The
democratization of information is happening. Our job as communicators is to
make a larger percentage of our population aware of these game-changing
advancements. The digital age is about inclusion, not exclusivity. The Internet
gives us the power to unite disparate people, and communicators are needed to
use the technology to bring meaning to those who seek information.
And so, this book is not just about successfully communicating the
complicated, but doing so in this new and exciting digital age. It is increasingly
the case that failing to investigate the options available in our new Internet-
charged world and embrace them in our daily work can cripple careers.
Individuals who can incorporate new features into their skill set are more likely
to thrive. In that spirit, I aim to illustrate what the digital revolution means to
those of us who communicate.
I came up with the term supercommunicator to describe forward-thinking
professionals who can apply classic writing, speaking, and content development
skills to a mindset befitting the quickly evolving millennium. Modeled after the
Greek god Hermes, who translated and delivered messages from Mount
Olympus to earthbound mortals, supercommunicators make sense of an
increasingly complicated world. They turn technical Geek-Speak into everyday,
layman's language, enabling real people to see big-picture scenarios they might
otherwise miss. Their efforts make intimidating ideas less frightening in an era
of overabundant input. Most importantly, they are knowledgeable about new
digital tools that help make learning easier—and can effortlessly incorporate
them into their work.
***
If you need to communicate as part of your professional responsibilities, I hope
you will join me in adopting a supercommunicator mindset.
BIG-PICTURE IDEAS, PRACTICAL ADVICE