Keep Communication Simple
Ever felt left out of a conversation filled with Education Jargon?
Especially all of those acronyms...
How did you handle not knowing?
How did you read the room and help others?
Did you just go with the flow? Or were you courageous enough to ask a questions?
As the facilitator or speaker, did you even notice that no one understood?
Be honest...
Personally, I’ve been on both sides.
When I was a Special Educator I would lead meetings and talk to teachers as though they all had a degree in special education and psychology. Many parents never spoke during the meetings, they just signed and thanked us.
SILENCE is NOT AGREEMENT.
It wasn’t until recently when I was the LEA at an IEP meeting, watching the body language of the parents through the virtual meeting did I realized how we were not going a good job of keeping the communication simple. The parents looked lost and concerned but they were not seeing anything.
I interrupted the teacher to ask if we could go back and walk through those present levels and goals one more time. I encouraged the parents to be sure they add their thoughts and ask questions. You see the teacher was so focused on getting through the IEP, they forgot the main goal of the communication.
The partnership with the family!
You see in leadership, our people are our priority. When we speak above them, over them, to impress them, we confuse them.
WHEN YOU CONFUSE PEOPLE YOU LOSE PEOPLE.
One way to avoid confusion and learn to keep your communication simple. This takes getting to truly know and understand your audience. Not speak down to them but speak to them.
To stop and ask, “What questions do you have?” Or, “Sometimes, because I do this daily, I leave out important details. Can you give me an overview of what you heard so I can make sure I communicated clearly?”
As my mentor John Maxwell shares, Keep the cookies on the bottom shelf.
One strategy that helps me is scripting out my communication. From the webinars I lead, to the directions I provide my team. Would you like a copy of this framework to help you eliminate confusion and communicate expectations with clarity?
Download our communicate with clarity templates.
They will help you ensure you are not leaving out the minor details in your communication that lead to major issues.
Fill out the form below.
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