Want Your Communication to be CLEAR?

Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a way to make complex ideas ... crystal clear?

There is. Help people SEE what you're SAYING.

Here's an example to show what I mean, then I'll unpack it so you can use this approach next time you have something complex you want to get across.

I was asked to judge a pitch competition called The Dolphin Tank. I reviewed the business plans the night before, including one for a hook you put in your car to put your purse on.

I thought, “Really? You’re want funding for a business that sells purse hooks?”

(That's what happens when we try to explain our idea. It either looks too simple or we don't understand it or value it. Either way, the answer's NO.)

The founder, Cari Carter, however, used a brilliant opening that turned skeptics into fans.

She carted a full size car seat to the front of the ballroom, set it on the floor, put her purse and cell phone on it, faced our group, wrapped her fingers around an imaginary steering wheel, and began “driving” while saying:

“Have you ever been driving along and you had to STOP all of a sudden?

Your purse and cell phone fall off the seat onto the floor, and you start scrabbling around trying to retrieve them with one hand while driving with the other hand?

Imagine never having to worry about that again.

Imagine having a hook that you …”

She didn't even have to finish what she planned to say.

A man in the audience called out, “I’ll take two. One for my wife, one for my daughter.”

Wow. Cari turned a skeptical “Really?!” to an enthusiastic “I’ll take two” in thirty seconds.

She transformed something with no perceived value into something that instantly captured our interest, respect and buy-in.

Let's unpack what she did so you can apply that approach next time you want to make your communication crystal clear.

1. Make 'em look. I’m sure it was a hassle to get that car seat into the Long Beach Convention Center. And it was worth it because SHOWED vs. TOLD and catalyzed curiosity. You should have seen everyone's head snap up as she hauled that car seat to the front of the ballroom. Our attention is where their eyes are. If people aren't looking at you, they're not listening to you. Instead of being just another “talking head,” Cari "earned our eyes" from the get-go.

2. ASK, don't EXPLAIN. Instead of "telling us what she was going to tell us," (a prescription for being a bore, snore or chore), Cari started with a "Have you ever..." question that instantly engaged everyone in the room. She turned a one-way pitch (monologue) into a two-way conversation (dialogue) in the first minute.

3. ACT OUT the problem you solve. Cari put us in the scene of a real-life situation and re-enacted something we've all experienced. By putting her purse on the seat and mimicking what it's like when it falls off the seat and we try to retrieve it, we all remembered when that happened to us or a loved one, and voluntarily decided we wanted her product to prevent that from happening again.

Bill Gates said, “I believe if you show people the problem and show them the solution, they will be moved to act.”

Agreed.

Next time you want to make what's complex clear, don't explain it, use a prop to act out the problem you're solving while asking “Have you ever…?” questions.

People will think, “Been there, done that, don’t want it to happen again."

They'll relate to what you're saying, remember what you're saying, and be more likely to act on what you're requesting or recommending.

All because you created visual communication that connected on an emotional level instead of trying to explain something on an intellectual level.

Sam Horn, January 21, 2024, H.I. (Human Intelligence)

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Want more communication tips? Check out Sam's Linkedin Learning course