There are 3 principles here to live by.
1) The Rule of 3. The idea here is that people can only remember up to 3 things. So, if you are trying to make a point, let it be broken down into 3 things or 3 parts. Any more, and you lose the attention of the listeners.
I am not as religious about this as I wish I was. I find it to be spot on – people do actually remember 3 things, especially if the 3 things are in some form of logical grouping.
I’ve found some very effective communicators to start anything they say with ‘Okay, I see 3 things.’ Sometimes, they don’t necessarily even have 3 things but that’s a commitment to the upper limit of the number of points they plan to raise!
2) The ‘Tell them what you told them’ principle. The ideal communication would have 3 parts –
– Tell them what you are going to tell them
– Tell them
– Tell them what you told them
This is particularly useful in meetings when we want everyone else to take away follow up actions! Repeat for clarity. And, of course, do it without being blatant and annoying.
3) Less is more.
A Learning a Day 