Communication Skills
Clarity
There are two types of communication: communicating to inform and communicating to influence. Here we consider communication when the goal is to inform.
A technical specification of a product is a good example where the main goal is to inform. A potential buyer reading the specification needs to be clear exactly what the product is and what it can do. Here, clarity is critical. If the buyer misunderstands the specifications, it might be costly.
How can we communicate to inform? Firstly, we must be clear about the idea we are communicating. Secondly, we must be careful how we encode this idea into language. Communication always distorts ideas, but if we are careful we can prevent crucial information from being lost. Unfortunately, we often become lazy in our use of language and this can lead to costly mistakes.
In most business situations you will need to both inform and influence. For example, a good leader must clearly communicate his plan to his followers (informing them) and inspire them to follow the plan (influencing them). Therefore, successful businessmen will be able to communicate both clearly and powerfully.