Posted By Judy on June 12, 2012

When addressing an audience, do you make your point simply? Are you unambiguous? Concise? If so, one of your Speaking Strengths™ is “Clarity.”

Speaking Strength: Clarity – Unambiguous, concise

Speaking with clarity is harder than it looks. You must do the work instead of your audience having to decipher your point.

To speak with Clarity, you must take complex ideas and convey them in language that your audience understands regardless of age or background.

Start by using plain English. Avoid technical terms and industry jargon.

Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, was famous for his obtuse reports to congress. Watch this classic video of Mr. Greenspan addressing Congress in “Fedspeak”:

Phew!

Don’t be lured into thinking that using “industry speak” will make you seem knowledgeable, authoritative or smart. It won’t.

Use imagery,  metaphors, similes and analogies to tie into experiences and ideas already familiar to your audience.

Use short, simple, direct sentences.

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." Albert Einstein

Remember what Einstein said

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” Albert Einstein

Speaking for impact is not an accident. It’s a skill. Speaking with Clarity is something you can develop. Building your speaking skills takes time.  It takes effort.  And the practice is well worth the investment.

Share your thoughts

What public figure do you feel exemplifies the speaking strength “Clarity”? Post your favorites as comments to this post and I’ll share my thoughts, too. Feel free to include a link to a video or podcast of your speaker, too.

Top Ten Speaking Strengths™

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Categories: Clarity, Speaking Strengths(tm)
Tags: clarity, concise, indstry speak, plain English, public speaking skills, speaking skills, speaking strengths, unambiguous