Have difficulty being concise?

Three groups of people have difficulty being concise. Do these sound like anyone you know?

The first group is those who are nervous about speaking to those in authority, or calling in to a talk show or a tele-seminar. Sometimes radio reporters also have difficulty with this, rephrasing their questions twice or more when interviewing guests.

The second group is those who are inductive thinkers. Inductive thinkers present all the facts or ideas and then express the main idea or request. People who are not inductive thinkers are deductive thinkers.)

The third group of people are those who haven't thought through what they mean to say, and just ramble. Sometimes they use stream-of-consciousness techniques of basically saying whatever they are thinking, with no obvious means of connecting the thoughts.

If a supervisor who is deductive has an employee who is an inductive thinker, there will be problems and frustration unless one of them changes. If it is the employee ( inductive thinker) who is to change, he or she needs to start thinking of the main point or "executive summary", and then add one solitary short sentence, starting the most vital fact or reason. If the supervisor wants more, he will ask.

This is difficult for inductive thinkers to do. Practice thinking this way, and even write down the summary statement and the reason statement ahead of time. Practice these two sentences until they sound great!

If the person gets nervous speaking to an authority figure or when calling in to a tele-seminar or radio talk show, write down your 2-3 sentences ahead of time. Your audience's time is short; make every second count!

Some people think best out loud, and need to practice doing this privately. Possibly recording their words would help them to then record a summary statement.

In all 3 cases, find someone who is a concise speaker, and emulate him or her!

"How should I say this?": how to phrase your message

Do you have difficulty knowing how to phrase certain messages?

You want to say them correctly, but you need help.

Thankfully, there is a wonderful series of 54 different books that can help you. They are the "Perfect phrases for ..." series. For example, the Perfect Phrases for ESL: Everyday Business Life includes phrases to accept compliments, answer questions, get information, emphasize certain points during a presentation, and much more. Perfect Phrases for Motivating and Rewarding Employees includes phrases  on raising morale, critical thinking, team spirit and much more. Check out this wonderful series!

Other people have difficulty expressing their thoughts in a concise manner. They say their thoughts are swirling around their heads. For some, this happens primarily in situations in which they are nervous, such as speaking to their supervisor.

If this is your concern, first list the ideas you want to express. Then try to summarize the most important concept in a single sentence. Add 1-2 more concise sentences supporting the idea, with reasons or essential details. It may be easier to master this concept if you start by writing your ideas down, instead of just thinking about them. Eventually you may be able to do it mentally.

Business Speech Improvement provides coaching in verbal skills.