Management Summary
There are many reasons for unclear language and limited persuasive power. Sometimes we don't have enough time to prepare, sometimes we lack the structure to organise our thoughts in a meaningful order. Sometimes we are not yet very familiar with a topic or we lack the self-confidence to express our point of view convincingly.
To find your way back to clear language and increase your persuasiveness, observe your communication. In which situations do you manage to communicate clearly? In which situations do you use a lot of softeners such as actually, possibly, should, ought to?
If the cause lies in your personality, coaching can help you to resolve the corresponding personality patterns and boost your self-confidence. If you just need a good structure to organise your thoughts, you will find what you are looking for in this article.
What are the causes of limited persuasiveness?
Unclear language with little persuasive power can be caused by various factors. Here are some of the reasons:
- Unclear thought structure: If your thoughts are not clear or you are unsure about the topic, you tend to speak imprecisely or vaguely. This can manifest itself in contradictions, imprecise arguments or confused statements.
- Lack of expertiseIf you don't have enough background knowledge or understanding of the topic, you often lack the precise terms and concepts to speak convincingly. This can lead to uncertainty and a weak argumentation style.
- Lack of preparationSpontaneous or unprepared speeches tend to be less concise and less convincing. If you haven't invested enough time in structuring your arguments, you can easily end up rambling.
- Anxiety or nervousnessSpeech anxiety or nervousness can cause you to sound insecure, pause frequently or use superfluous filler words. This significantly reduces the power of persuasion.
- Lack of self-confidenceAn insecure performance has a direct impact on the perception of the speech. If you hesitate or sound insecure, listeners often lose confidence in what you have to say.
How do you find your way back to clear and authoritative language?
Root cause analysis
In the coming weeks, pay attention to the situations in which your communication loses clarity and persuasiveness. Where do softeners such as "actually", "possibly", "should, ought to" increase? Ask trusted people for feedback.
Do you also pay attention to the situations in which you speak clearly and convincingly?
What is the difference?
- Are you uncomfortable broaching the subject?
- Would you like to be extra polite?
- Are you unconsciously making yourself smaller because you think it's not your place to make the suggestion?
- Do you lack specialised knowledge?
- Do you lack a structure to organise your thoughts?
- Are you afraid of the other person's reaction because you confuse clarity with firmness?
Release personality patterns
If the key to greater persuasiveness lies not only in a rhetorical structure or the development of specialist knowledge, we recommend releasing the personality patterns that prevent you from appearing convincing and expressing your opinion clearly. These patterns are caused by blocking beliefs. These can be, for example
- I have to adapt.
- I'm not allowed to show my face.
- I'm not sure.
- I am not allowed to have my own opinion.
- My opinion is worth nothing.
Structuring thoughts
You have various options for structuring your thoughts. A structure that has proven itself in oral and written communication has five elements:
- Goal: What do we want to achieve?
- Retrospective: What have we already done to achieve this?
- Status quo: Where do we currently stand?
- Next steps: How do we proceed now?
- Benefit: What do we gain by proceeding in this way?
Of course, you can also put the elements of this structure in a different order:
- Goal: What do we want to achieve?
- Benefit: What do we gain if we achieve the goal?
- Retrospective: What have we already done to achieve this?
- Status quo: Where do we currently stand?
- Next steps: How do we proceed now?
If you want to build on what you already know, argue as follows:
- Retrospective: As you all know, we've been dealing with ...
- Status quo: We are currently ....
- Goal: That's why our goal now is ...
- Next steps: The next step is to ...
- Benefit: If we proceed in this way, we will succeed ...
What else can you do to communicate more clearly and authoritatively?
As a first step, these rhetorical tips will help you to communicate more clearly and authoritatively:
- Replace the word "would" with "will".
- Use "please" and "thank you" instead of "actually" and "maybe" for polite communication.
- Designate clear responsibilities and address those responsible directly. This saves the word "one".
- Communicate concrete deadlines by which things will be done.
Communication without softeners creates clarity and commitment. Both contribute to creating trust. And trust is the foundation of every success.
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