Being heard in an attention-deficit world
Your communication is like a billboard on a highway … .
You have seconds to capture attention and convince people that your message is important.
By Kimberly Paterson, CEC
Your team spends weeks researching and crafting a powerful proposal for a potential new client. Their questions at your follow-up meeting make it obvious that they never even looked at your document.
You invest a morning drafting an email explaining an important new initiative you’re launching. When you ask about it two weeks later at the “all-hands” meeting, only a few employees acknowledge seeing it, let alone know what it said.
You’ve explained key roles and responsibilities what feels like 100 times, but your leadership group is still asking questions.
If you think it’s harder than ever to get your message through, it’s not your imagination. The environment is working against you. Think about it:
- Shorter attention spans. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, have been tracking attention for over 20 years. In 2004, the average attention span while viewing a screen was 2.5 minutes. Two decades later, it has dropped to 47 seconds.
- Drowning in information. Leaders compete with a barrage of messages. The brain works hard to save energy by filtering out anything that isn’t critical. Your communication is like a billboard on a highway where everyone is driving 100 miles per hour. You have seconds to capture attention and convince people that your message is important.
- Victims of digital amnesia. Increased dependence on technology has conditioned us to believe that almost any information we need is in our phones or a Google search away. New patterns of behavior are taking a toll on our cognitive abilities to retain information.
- Growing skepticism. The proliferation of fake news, lack of transparency, and an over-reliance on “corporate speak” fuel people’s cynicism. Distrust is heightened when employees suspect a leader is using AI to draft sensitive messages such as performance feedback or goals.
The bottom line is that leaders can no longer just “speak” and expect people to “listen.” Business has evolved from a “command and control” model to a more human-centric democratic one. The communication skills required of leaders have changed.
Strategy and planning are key
The average leader spends 80% to 90% of their time per week communicating and 10% to 20% of their time planning. Effective communication takes planning. Begin by shifting your focus from thinking about what you want to say to the outcome you’re seeking.
What do you want people to think, feel and do as a result of your communication? Build your message around this. Think infomercial. Everything you see and hear is driving people to the outcome that you’re seeking. The following tactics will help you get your message through:
- Know the questions in your audience’s mind. Leaders tend to focus on the strategy and how the organization needs to change. Research shows there are six questions you must answer before employees are ready and willing to focus on how they can help the organization move forward:
- What‘s my job?
- How am I doing?
- Does anyone care about me?
- What does our organization stand for?
- Where is our organization going?
- Where is my department going?
- Think the three “Rs”. The key is communicating the right message to the right audience through the right medium. Think of it this way: Last night, your 16-year-old son rolled in at three o’clock in the morning and you definitely smelled alcohol on his breath. You check the car and see there’s a major dent in the passenger side door of your new SUV. Are you going to wait until morning, or send an email or a text? Probably not.
Leaders tend to rely too heavily on written communication, but the truth is that few people read and internalize what you send. When the issue is important, complex, or sensitive and you need to gauge reactions, choose face-to-face communication. If you’re working remotely, use a channel like Zoom or Google Meet. Use phone/voice when the message is important, you need to verify it’s been received and understood, questions are likely, and you need real-time feedback.
In the long run, it’s more efficient and effective than writing an email. Email is best for communicating need-to-know or time-sensitive information, making requests of others, or it’s important to document your communication. Use channels like Slack for updates and to share information that’s not urgent. Rely on direct messaging for short messages. - Give the bottom line upfront (BLUF). Instead of creating context first, give people what they need to know upfront. Make sure your audience knows what they need to know if they only read the opening sentence of your email or listen to the first line of your presentation. Put the key message first and the context or background second. If you cannot simplify a message and communicate it quickly and compellingly, people will not follow you.
- Keep it short; make it scannable. Shorter attention spans demand that we get to the point quickly. In the 1970s, the average TV commercial was 60 seconds; today 15 seconds is the norm. Ultra-short 6-second bumper ads, popularized by YouTube and Snapchat, are becoming common across traditional TV and streaming platforms.
Shorter messages with scannable copy are easier to process, which makes them more engaging and easier to retain. With more communication on small screens, long, cumbersome text is impractical. Use links and back-up documents to provide context and detail for those who want it. - Use metaphors. Metaphors are a powerful tool for making complicated topics simple and memorable. When you introduce a new or abstract idea, your audience will automatically search for something familiar to help them make sense of it. Metaphors can build the bridge.
Warren Buffett was notorious for his use of metaphors. One of his favorites was using “moats and castles” to communicate his approach to buying companies. He explained, “The most important thing we do is to find a business with a wide and long-lasting moat around it, protecting a terrific economic castle with an honest lord in charge of the castle.” - Be real. Avoid “corporate speak.” Keep your language simple, concise and conversational. People respond to leaders they perceive as human, genuine, open to others’ perspectives and realistic about their own strengths and weaknesses. Leaders with the confidence to show some vulnerability are viewed as more relatable and trustworthy.
- Make it a two-way conversation. Today’s workers expect to be part of the conversation, to have input on issues, and understand the why behind the company’s decisions. Effective leaders recognize the need to move away from traditional “tell and sell” communication to “ask and listen.” They invite people into the conversation, skillfully use questions to learn what matters to their audience and genuinely listen to the answers.
- Listen fully. Most of us find it painful to fully concentrate on a single task for any length of time. Part of the reason is that we think four times faster than we speak. That means that when we listen to the average speaker, we’re using 25% of our mental capacity. We still have 75% of our capacity with which to do something else. So, our minds wander, and we lose focus on what is being said.
People test our patience. We become skilled at selective listening and closing down when we think we’ve heard enough. We’re used to getting our information in sound bites, but that is not how most people talk. Our colleagues aren’t always clear on what they are thinking or feeling. Even when it’s clear in their minds, they may have difficulty putting it into words and getting to the point. Effective communicators know that listening takes concentration and patience to sort through the noise and get to the real message. - Pay close attention to your non-verbal signals. Your words tell a small part of the story. According to Dr. Albert Mehrabian’s landmark studies on communication, words convey only 7% of the message while 93% is communicated through tone, facial expression, posture and gestures.
In one of his studies, neuroscientists observed two groups. Group A received negative performance feedback accompanied by positive emotional signals—namely nods and smiles. Group B received positive feedback but delivered with frowns and narrowed eyes. Subsequent interviews compared the two groups’ emotional states. The people who received the positive feedback, accompanied by the negative emotional signals, reported feeling worse about their performance than the participants who had received good-natured, but negative feedback. That’s because non-verbal signals are typically unconscious and harder to fake, so we instinctively trust body language and tone more than words when the two conflict.
Communication is your biggest business asset
Effective communication is the bridge to organizational alignment, employee engagement, successful execution and trust. Now more than ever, leaders have a responsibility to make sense of a rapidly changing world and to translate their insights into understanding and actionable behaviors for their team. In times of uncertainty, communication helps reduce fear and keep teams oriented toward goals.
In an age of noise, only the leaders who are skilled communicators will be heard and followed.
The author
Kimberly Paterson, Certified Executive Coach and Master Energy Leadership Coach, is President of CIM (www.cim-co.com), CIM works with organizations and individuals to maximize performance through positive lasting behavioral change. Her clients are property & casualty insurance companies, agencies, and brokers. She can be reached at kpaterson@cim-co.com. Follow Kimberly on www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-paterson.
