How often do you consider who you are communicating with when putting together a proposal or trying to influence someone through a conversation?
Unless communication is your area of expertise, I suspect it is less often than could be helpful (and I say that because I know I probably don’t do it as much as I could!).
If you’d like a reminder on why being ‘other-centric’ can support you with your goals, or some tips on how to do this in a practical way, read on.
Every month I write a blog. It’s been almost 10 years now and it can be tough to think of a new topic sometimes so I trust my instinct and what is on my mind. That being said, I also need to think about what you, the reader, might benefit from and how to put that across in a way that connects with you. That’s not always easy given that I don’t know who is reading and what style they prefer but I focus on keeping it brief, it keeping some practical elements that I think can be helpful.
What if, however, you aren’t writing a blog but wanting to get some key people onside for a proposal that you have for a business idea or improvement you want to make?
Depending on your own style, how you put this together could vary. If you like data and detail, you’ll have gathered some facts, perhaps some past performance figures or industry trends. If you get excited about what the future could be, you’ll likely be painting a picture in words, or perhaps creating a visual image to get others excited; if you care about impact on people, you’ll have considered how you’d suggest making the proposal a reality with people factors clearly outlined.
And, that’s great as far as it goes … but to get others on side, it is really less about your style and what you want to include and more about their style and what they will be most receptive to.
How do you think your proposal will go down if you are sharing figures and trends with someone who wants to know what the future will look like first?
Being ‘other-centric’
Being ‘other-centric’ in your proposal can be helped by answering the following questions:
- Who are you sharing this with and why?
- What do you know about them and the way that they communicate?
- Are they brief, bold, driven and just about the headlines?
- Do they talk of the future in a descriptive way such that you can almost imagine you are there?
- Do they share figures – trends, costs, resource numbers etc – to make their point?
- Do they focus on how people benefit from plans or are impacted?
- How can you write and/or share your proposal in a way that uses some of their own preferred style so that it connects more easily with them?
While I appreciate that it may not be quite as black and white as I’ve shared above, just thinking about someone else’s style can mean you are more likely to have them engage with you.
What about communicating with groups?
Given that a group will have people that have a different emphasis on what they’d like to see, it can help to consider how to provide information that covers a number of basis:
- If you have a strong preferred style and find it difficult to put yourself into the shoes of someone with a different style, find an ally of that style who can give you some tips and ideas beforehand as you structure what you want to write or say to appeal to everyone
- To appeal to those that like brevity, keep the key messages to the point and ensure you cover everything that is important but with appendices or additional information available for those that like more detail
- If sharing an exec summary (in writing or through conversation), include aspects that will give each person something that they can relate to
Many of us will be aware that we need to consider others when sharing information but it is very easy to revert to what we prefer – when we are busy, we do what is quickest for us … but sometimes we need to take more time in the short term to go faster in the long term through aligning our key stakeholders to our ideas.
How do you ensure that you are ‘other-centric’ in your communication when needed?
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