Communicating
Getting your point across.
Communicating
When we know a lot about a topic, it can be difficult to write about it in a way that makes sense to the layperson. To improve writing, Cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker suggests several strategies:
- Use concrete nouns and refer to tangible things instead of abstractions.
- Assume that readers know less about the topic than you do, but are still inte
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When you truly understand something, you can express it at any level of detail while maintaining coherence.
The master can provide the one-sentence version, the paragraph version, and the chapter version, all of which tell the same story at different resolutions. The novice can only repeat what they’ve memorized at one resolution.
The master can provide the one-sentence version, the paragraph version, and the chapter version, all of which tell the same story at different resolutions. The novice can only repeat what they’ve memorized at one resolution.
Different Resolutions
“My friend, who sometimes shares his writing with me, once said my feedback always falls into three categories:
1. Make it shorter.
2. Make it more appealing.
3. How could it apply to more people?”
1. Make it shorter.
2. Make it more appealing.
3. How could it apply to more people?”
3-2-1: My advice for writers, what silence says, and the chapters of your life
“The truth shrinks as the crowd grows.
In a large meeting at work, people hold back their honest opinions. The resulting conversation offends the fewest people but is often not the truth.
Smaller groups are more likely to find truth than larger ones.”
In a large meeting at work, people hold back their honest opinions. The resulting conversation offends the fewest people but is often not the truth.
Smaller groups are more likely to find truth than larger ones.”
David Brooks • Your Mental Diet
A lot of clients like to buy process. It’s like they think they are not getting their money’s worth because I solved it too fast.... See more
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How can it be that you talk to someone and it’s done in a second? But it IS done in a second — it’s done in a second and 34 years. It’s done in a second and every experience, and every movie, and everything in my
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“When researching strategies, emphasize patterns over stories. One person succeeding means nothing. 100 people succeeding is a signal.
When explaining strategies, emphasize stories over patterns. People forget numbers and charts. Everyone remembers a great story.”
When explaining strategies, emphasize stories over patterns. People forget numbers and charts. Everyone remembers a great story.”
James Clear • 3-2-1: Prioritization, making the most of what you have, and reading as a form of travel
3 rules for expressing your thoughts is useful for all types of communication.
Make no more than three points
Explain difficult ideas in three different ways and
Make important points three times.
“Unspoken expectations are premeditated resentments.”
— Neil Strauss