Communicating effectively is shockingly uncomplicated

Summary

In this insightful video, Matt, a strategy and operations associate at Google, shares his expertise on clear communication. He emphasizes the importance of clear thinking as the foundation for effective communication and outlines a three-step framework: knowing your goal, understanding your audience, and planning how to convey your message. Matt advises assuming zero context, avoiding jargon, and structuring your thoughts logically to ensure concise and impactful communication in various settings.

Takeaways

• 😀 Clear communication begins with clear thinking, emphasizing the importance of structuring thoughts logically before speaking.
• 🔍 A three-step process for effective communication includes knowing your goal, understanding your audience, and planning how to convey your message.
• 🎯 Knowing your goal is crucial for staying focused in conversations and ensuring that you achieve the desired outcome.
• 👥 Understanding your audience involves empathy and considering their perspective to tailor your message effectively.
• 🧐 Assuming zero context is important when communicating with others to avoid confusion and ensure everyone is on the same page.
• 🗣️ Avoiding jargon and using simple terms helps in making complex concepts understandable to a wider audience.
• 📝 Writing down your thoughts before speaking can clarify your thinking and improve the structure of your communication.
• 📈 Being structured in your communication helps to maintain focus and prevent derailing from the main points you want to discuss.
• 📑 Starting with context and ending with a call to action ensures that meetings or presentations have a clear purpose and lead to actionable outcomes.
• 🔄 Restating context at the beginning of meetings is a good practice to ensure everyone is informed and aligned.
• 📝 The act of writing can reinforce clear thinking, as it forces you to organize your ideas in a logical and concise manner.

Q & A

What is the main idea behind Albert Einstein's quote mentioned in the script?

The main idea is that if one cannot explain a concept simply, they do not understand it well enough themselves.

Who is Matt, and what is his current role?

Matt is a strategy and operations associate at Google, previously a Management Consultant at BCG, and he is sharing insights on clear communication.

Why is clear communication important regardless of one's background?

Clear communication is important because it allows for structured thinking and effective, concise conveyance of ideas, which benefits anyone in various fields including students, professionals, and academia.

What is the starting point for clear communication according to the script?

The starting point for clear communication is clear thinking, as it is essential to structure thoughts logically to convey the intended message effectively.

What is the three-step process Matt recommends for preparing to communicate effectively?

The three-step process includes knowing your goal, knowing your audience, and knowing how you're going to say it.

Why is it crucial to know your goal before entering a conversation or meeting?

Knowing your goal helps to maintain focus, avoid going off on tangents, and ensures that the conversation is directed towards achieving the desired outcome.

What does Matt suggest about understanding the perspective of the person you are communicating with?

Matt suggests that empathy is key, and understanding the audience's perspective, their wants, and potential reactions can significantly improve communication effectiveness.

What is the importance of assuming zero context when communicating with an audience?

Assuming zero context ensures that everyone in the audience has a clear understanding of the topic being discussed, preventing confusion and the need for follow-up questions about basic information.

Why should jargon be avoided when communicating with a non-technical audience?

Jargon should be avoided because it can be confusing to those not familiar with the specific field, and clear communication requires breaking down complex concepts into simple terms that anyone can understand.

What is the significance of being structured when delivering a message?

Being structured helps to maintain a clear flow of the discussion, prevents derailing by tangential questions, and ensures that all intended points are covered effectively.

Why is writing down your thoughts before speaking important for clear communication?

Writing down thoughts helps to clarify and organize ideas, ensuring logical coherence, and allows for self-assessment of the message's clarity before presenting it verbally.

What role does a call to action play in a meeting or conversation?

A call to action is crucial as it provides clear next steps or tasks for participants, ensuring that the meeting or conversation leads to actionable outcomes and progress towards goals.

Outlines

00:00

🗣️ The Essence of Clear Communication

Matt, a strategy and operations associate at Google, introduces the importance of clear communication for anyone, regardless of their background. He emphasizes that clear communication stems from clear thinking and presents a three-step process: knowing your goal, understanding your audience, and planning how to convey your message. The goal is to ensure that the message is concise, effective, and well-received by the audience, whether in a meeting, presentation, or academic setting.

05:01

🤔 Knowing Your Audience and Context

This paragraph delves into the importance of understanding the audience's perspective and having empathy in communication. It highlights the common mistake of assuming shared context and the need to explain complex concepts in simple terms, avoiding jargon. The speaker recommends starting any presentation or meeting by restating the context to ensure everyone is on the same page, which prevents confusion and ensures that the audience can follow the discussion without feeling lost.

10:03

📝 Structuring Your Message and Writing It Down

The final paragraph focuses on the practical aspects of delivering a clear message. It stresses the importance of having a structured approach to presenting information, which helps in maintaining focus and preventing derailing. The speaker advocates for writing down thoughts as a way to clarify thinking and ensure logical coherence. A structured message typically includes an introduction with context, a detailed discussion, and a conclusion with a call to action. The call to action is crucial for moving forward after the meeting or conversation, and writing things down helps in refining the message before speaking.

Keywords

💡Clear Communication

Clear communication refers to the ability to convey thoughts, ideas, or information in a manner that is easily understood by others. In the video's context, it is the fundamental skill that Matt emphasizes for effective interaction, whether in a professional or academic setting. The script illustrates this through the example of needing to get alignment on a project or pushing back on a request in a meeting, where clear communication can prevent misunderstandings and ensure goals are met.

💡Structured Thinking

Structured thinking is the process of organizing one's thoughts in a logical and coherent manner. It is crucial for clear communication, as Matt points out that if one cannot structure their thoughts, they cannot effectively communicate. The script uses the analogy of a roadmap for a presentation or discussion, emphasizing the importance of a clear flow from context to conclusion, which is a direct application of structured thinking.

💡Empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. In the script, Matt argues that great communicators often possess empathy, as it allows them to put themselves in the audience's shoes and tailor their message accordingly. This is exemplified when discussing the need to understand the audience's perspective and how they might react to certain information, which is key to effective communication.

💡Context

Context refers to the background or environment in which something occurs, which provides understanding to the subject matter. Matt stresses the importance of providing context at the beginning of any discussion or presentation to ensure everyone is on the same page. The script illustrates this by suggesting that one should assume zero context from the audience and start with a reminder of the project's focus and objectives.

💡Jargon

Jargon is the specialized language or terminology used by a particular profession or group. In the video script, Matt advises against using jargon when communicating with those outside one's field, as it can lead to confusion and miscommunication. The script provides the example of technical professionals who might use complex terms that are not easily understood by others, such as HR personnel or friends.

💡Call to Action (CTA)

A call to action is a directive intended to prompt a specific response, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or, in the video's context, assigning tasks after a meeting. Matt explains that every meeting or conversation should end with a clear CTA to ensure progress and avoid losing momentum. The script gives an example of how a meeting might conclude with分配tasks to different individuals to move the project forward.

💡Alignment

Alignment refers to the process of ensuring that all parties involved in a project or discussion are in agreement or have a shared understanding of the goals and direction. In the script, Matt uses alignment as an example of a common goal in meetings, where one might seek the CEO's or VP's approval or 'sign off' on a program or initiative.

💡Push Back

To push back means to express disagreement or to resist a request or proposal. Matt mentions that professionals often need to push back on tasks or requests that are not feasible or a good use of resources. The script provides the context of a meeting where one might need to argue against a request based on the available resources and feasibility.

💡First Principles Thinking

First principles thinking is an approach to problem-solving that involves breaking down complex concepts into their most basic components. Matt references this concept when discussing the importance of being able to explain complex ideas in simple terms, as advocated by Richard Feynman. The script uses the Einstein quote to highlight the idea that if one cannot explain something simply, they may not understand it well enough.

💡Fineman Technique

The Feynman technique, named after physicist Richard Feynman, is a method for learning and understanding a concept by explaining it in simple terms as if teaching it to someone else. Matt mentions this technique in the script as a way to test one's understanding of a complex subject and to ensure that it can be broken down into basic, understandable parts.

💡Delegation

Delegation is the act of assigning tasks or responsibilities to others. In the context of the video, Matt discusses the importance of effective delegation as part of a call to action in meetings. The script provides an example of how a meeting leader might delegate tasks like creating a financial model or compiling market comparisons to different individuals to ensure follow-through and progress.

Highlights

Albert Einstein's quote emphasizes the importance of simple explanations for clear understanding.

Matt's background includes roles at Google and BCG, providing a foundation for his communication advice.

Clear communication is beneficial across various backgrounds, including students, professionals, and academia.

Clear communication begins with clear thinking, structuring thoughts logically to convey points effectively.

A three-step process for effective communication includes knowing your goal, audience, and how to articulate your message.

Understanding your goal is crucial for concise and focused communication in meetings or presentations.

Empathy and understanding the audience's perspective are key traits of great communicators.

Technical jargon should be avoided; complex concepts should be broken down for better audience understanding.

Assuming zero context is important when communicating to ensure clarity for all participants.

Starting meetings with context prevents confusion and ensures everyone is on the same page.

Jargon should be removed for effective communication with non-technical audiences.

Einstein's quote and Richard Feynman's technique stress the importance of simplifying complex ideas.

First principles thinking applies to all fields, emphasizing the need to explain concepts in basic terms.

Knowing your audience and their perspective is essential before engaging in any conversation.

Being structured in your communication helps maintain focus and prevents derailing from the main topic.

Writing down your thoughts before speaking aids in clear thinking and effective communication.

Including a call to action in meetings ensures follow-through and progress towards objectives.

Ineffective meetings often lack clear action items and delegation, leading to lost momentum and objectives.

Transcripts

Albert Einstein famously said if you

can't explain it simply you don't

understand it well enough hi my name's

Matt I'm a current strategy and

operations associate at Google prior of

that was a Management Consultant at BCG

and today I'm going to explain to you

how to communicate clearly it doesn't

matter what your background is if you're

currently a student a working

professional or maybe even in Academia

clear communication is something that

anyone can benefit from because at the

end of the day the ability to think in a

structured way communicate those

thoughts to another human and do so in a

way that is concise and effective is a

skill that literally anyone can benefit

from so let's get right into it so the

first thing we need to understand before

we even get into how do I communicate

clearly is where does clear

communication start and I would say that

at the core clear communication really

starts with clear thinking because if

you cannot structure your thoughts in a

way that makes sense in a way that is

logical and in a way that conveys the

point that you want to get across to

someone then you're at a loss before

you've even opened your mouth now the

next natural question from here is well

then how do I think in a way that is

clear well I'll get into that later in

this video but it's important to keep in

mind that the root of all clear

communication starts with your ability

to think and your ability to be

structured and to be logical but that

said there is a three-step process that

I recommend following when you are

preparing to say speak in a meeting or

give a presentation whether it be in

school or at work or anywhere else and

this three step process is one know your

goal two know your audience and three

know how you're going to say it okay and

so I'm now going to dive into this

three-step framework and it'll make a

lot more sense why you should know your

goal know your audience and know how

you're going to say it if you want to be

able to come out of a meeting or an

interview where the person on the other

side of the table is thinking to

themselves wow that guy is a great

communicator so with step one which is

know your goal you would be surprised

how many people go into a conversation

or go into a meeting or even a

networking call without knowing what

they actually want to get out of it like

sure you could say yeah I just want to

you know learn a little bit more from

this person but what actually is your

goal here are you trying to learn

specifically about their role are you

trying to learn a little bit more about

their thought process in switching into

this industry or are you trying to just

ask them for a referral for a job

knowing your goal is the first step to

being able to convey your ideas in a way

that makes sense and is concise and so

that you don't ramble because whatever

your goal is you need to keep this at

the back of your mind and so to give a

work context example a good example of

this is going into a meeting knowing

that you want to get alignment with some

key stakeholders say it's like the CEO

or a VP someone very high up or maybe to

push back on something right these are

the most common situations that working

professionals will find themselves in

where they either need to get alignment

on something and say hey this is what

we've been working on all we need and

what we're looking for today is your

feedback but really your sign off on

this program or this new initiative that

we want to fund or we want to go to them

and say they've given us some sort of

task or request and we want to show them

that we've done some work and we've

thought about it already but given the

available resources and what we think is

feasible we'd like to push back on this

request because we don't think it's a

good use of our time or we think that

the request simply doesn't make sense

and if you're unable to get alignment or

to push back you're never going to be

able to get anything done at work if

you're not able to get alignment nothing

will ever get ped and if you're unable

to push back people will just pile a

million things on your plate and you'll

get overwhelmed and so going into any

sort of conversations with the goal in

mind is critically important because

it's going to keep you focused in the

conversation so that you don't go off on

random tangents and also so that you can

get your point across and so that

ultimately at the end of the

conversation you can remind yourself

okay did I accomplish this goal if not

what needs to to happen maybe that's

scheduling a follow-up call or some

other next steps that need to happen but

now that we know why it's important to

keep your goal in mind before you go

into a conversation the next step is to

know your audience now most people will

say no duh of course you got to know

your audience everyone knows that well

you would be surprised how many people

go into conversations without really

understanding the perspective of the

person sitting on the other side of the

table I would argue that empathy is one

key trait that a lot of great

communicators have in common because

they're able to put themselves in the

shoes of Their audience and really

understand not just what does my

audience want but how are they going to

react to certain things that I say and

how does their thought process

potentially differ from mine so

something that maybe I say that seems

logical to me may not necessarily sound

logical to them and another great

example that I often run into because I

do a fair number of coaching calls with

students and early professionals is

often with people who come from very

technical backgrounds so for example if

you are someone who is in Academia or

you've been you've been doing your PhD

in a very technical science related

field where there's a lot of jargon or

maybe you're in the medical profession

for example often times what happens is

you've been swimming around in all of

this technical jargon and all this

terminology for so long in your

day-to-day and there's nothing wrong

with that but when it comes to finally

communicating to someone who might not

come from that background say if you're

interviewing somewhere and you're

speaking with HR for example or even

talking to your friend about what you do

at work then you try to explain it to

them in a way that makes sense to you

but then you end up using a bunch of

words that they don't understand or

assuming far too much context which

brings me to the next point which is you

need to assume in most cases zero

context now this is just a broad

generalization here there are exceptions

to this rule like for example if you're

talking with a colleague that you've

been working very closely with on a

specific project project for a while

then you don't need to explain

everything to them but in 90% of cases

when you're explaining something to an

audience a group of people there is more

than often going to be one person who

lacks a certain level of context and you

as the presenter will often have the

most context and so you always need to

assume that everyone else has a little

bit less context than you okay and so

how does this manifest in practice well

this means that at the beginning of any

presentation or at the beginning of

every meeting you start and you open

with context you say something like all

right thanks everybody for joining us

today as a reminder we've been working

on this project for the past 3 weeks and

it's focused on figuring out if there is

a possible solution to this problem and

so we've engaged with X Y and Z

different parties at the company so far

and today the purpose of the meeting is

to get everyone's alignment on the

process that we've landed on and

determine what the next steps are

something like that I'm obviously making

this up as I go but you always need to

assume zero context and I know some of

you might be thinking is this really

necessary like it feels a little bit

redundant to always have to do this and

what I would say to that is look nobody

will get mad at you for restating the

context and grounding everybody in the

pre-existing facts if somebody gets

upset that you simply spent an

additional 5 to 10 seconds laying out

the groundwork before diving into the

details that's a them problem not a you

problem so don't worry about sounding

redundant you need to be concise but you

can always restate the context at the

beginning of every meeting and I also

just mentioned this but just to write it

down remove the jargon if you're

communicating with someone who's not

Technical and a note on jargon I

honestly don't think that using jargon

is very effective in any sort of

contexts unless you happen to be

speaking with someone who also is in

that same field and would really

understand I think that at the end of

the day any complex concept should be

able to be broken down into extremely

basic components and you should be able

to explain it to someone in extremely

simple terms again going back to that

Einstein quote if you cannot explain it

simply you simply don't understand it

well enough and Richard feeman who is

another famous physicist also advocated

for the Fineman technique which is when

you basically take a complex concept and

you write it down on a piece of paper

you try to explain it in very basic

terms and analogies and basically teach

it to yourself and at the end of that if

you don't still understand this concept

then you have to go back and even

simplify it further which really goes to

show that first principles thinking

being able to break things down into the

most basic components is applicable to

any field no matter how complex if you

cannot explain to basically a

10-year-old what you are working on then

that either means that you do not

understand it well enough or whatever

you're working on doesn't make as much

sense as people think and maybe there's

a problem but all that's to say you

really need to know your audience and

put yourself in their shoes before you

even open your mouth if you do that you

will be much more effective in meetings

and in interviews and in conversations

with people because people aren't going

to have as many questions about oh wait

why are we even having this conversation

and what were we working on before that

all of these kinds of questions can be

avoided if you ground everybody in the

facts before you get into the details

okay but that brings us to the third

step which is know how you're going to

say it and there's really two things

here one is you need to be structured

and two is you need to write it down

okay well why do you need to be

structured being structured is important

because if if you don't come into a

meeting with basically like a road map

of the things you want to talk about it

is very easy to get completely derailed

when one person suddenly asks a question

about the first thing that you wanted to

talk about and then the whole

conversation goes in that direction and

by the end of like 30 minutes or maybe

an hour all you guys have done is spent

that entire time talking about that one

thing when in reality you wanted to talk

about three or four different things and

so it's important to be structured from

that perspective but also because this

is going to force you to think about

okay how do I actually want to deliver

this message I know high level what my

goal is and what outcome I want to drive

and I know who my audience is but how am

I actually going to in practice deliver

this message in a way that is the most

effective is the most logical and is the

most likely to convince this person or

this group of people to do what I want

basically and so being structured simply

means you think through okay the flow of

the presentation or the discussion right

you're going to start with number one

and then you're going to go to number

two and then finally you're going to end

with number three and maybe there's some

call to action here now number one is

usually the context which means you want

to start with the context as I've

mentioned assume zero context from your

audience two is you want to get into the

meat of the discussion right and so this

will probably be broken out into

multiple multiple talking points if it's

a complex problem and you're going to

end with a basically a recap and CTA

which is a call to action now the call

to action is really important because at

the end of every meeting and at the end

of every conversation with like a

business partner or a professor or

anyone else that you're working with or

trying to convince of something you need

to have some sort of call to action now

this could be as simple as saying at the

end of a meeting all right so it sounds

like we've got an alignment on this in

terms of next steps it sounds like Matt

you are going to put together the

financial model for this business uh Bob

you're going to put together some

trading comps so that we can understand

what the market is currently valuing

this company at and Alyssa you're going

to start putting together a list of

potential buyers for this business so

the call to action is basically just

also delegating work to different people

or yourself depending on what the

outcome of that meeting was and you need

that because it's going to move things

forward from the meeting you don't just

want the meeting to be a meeting and

that's it in most cases you actually

want people to do something coming out

of that meeting even if it's as simple

as sending an email out to someone

because otherwise why are you even

having this meeting the most ineffective

meetings that I have ever been been in

in my professional career which granted

hasn't been that long have been meetings

where there was a discussion for like an

hour and at the end of it nobody knew

what to do and so coming out of that

meeting nothing moved forward because

there were no action items and the

person running the meeting simply wasn't

able to delegate effectively and so you

just lose momentum and the objective

doesn't get achieved but moving to the

second Point here which is you should

write it all down going back to what I

had said earlier about how the root of

all clear communication is clear

thinking I would argue that if you can

write clearly you can think clearly

because writing and thinking are very

similar and if you're able to put down

ideas on paper in a way that is logical

and makes sense if you can write

effectively then that means that you can

think effectively and if you can think

effectively and write effectively then

you already have 50% of the battle when

it comes to communicating effectively

and so I would say the biggest thing

here is again to be concise and to be

logical and the reason why I always

write things down before I have to

present something or before I have to go

into a meeting where I have to speak is

because if you read it back and it

doesn't make sense then do you really

think it's going to make sense when it

comes out of your mouth no right so

that's why it's so important to be able

to put your ideas down on paper or in

writing if you want to be able to

communicate effectively