The next time someone asks about your nonprofit, don’t answer without asking this question first.

The next time someone asks about your organization or ministry, don’t answer without asking a follow-up question first:

"What would you like to know?"

or?

"Is there anything specific you’d like to know?"

Don’t spend 15 minutes giving them a complete overview of your programs, your organizational history, or your theory of change.

Ask this one clarifying question and be quiet.?

No matter how long the ensuing silence feels, resist the urge to re-state the question in a different way.

Give them a moment, and they’ll usually clarify, moving from broad and general to specific and narrow.

Then... answer their question.

Don’t meander. Get in, get out. Be brief without being vague. Cover the topic just well enough to spur more curiosity.

Then ask:

Is there anything else you’d like to know or talk about?

or

What else can I tell you?

Wait for them to respond. Don’t fill the silence.?

Then, when they respond (and they usually will) answer their next question.

If you can have the discipline to ask a simple clarifying question anytime someone asks about what you do, every conversation will be better.?

You'll waste less of everyone's time talking about things they're not interested in hearing about anyway.

Do you want to engage people in deeper conversations about what you do? The problem you solve? Your unique solution? The impact on the people you serve?

Anytime someone asks about your organization: clarify, clarify, clarify.

Always seek to understand the question behind the question before you answer.

And when you do…

You’ll have a better shot at answering the questions they’re really asking.

Every time.