As it is commonly observed, when we converse, we tend to speak fast in an effort to convey everything that we know at a stretch. The same thing is true in case of sending emails or other forms of writing.
This happens because we are always anxious about forgetting anything that we know. People who may be reading or listening to us may not know as much as we know. This could be one of the reasons of stuffing everything in the beginning of our conversation.
As effective communicators, we should be able to chunk and divide the information into different categories. Differentiation leads to better assimilation.
Please do the following:
1) First understand what the objective is.
2) What exactly do you want to achieve from this exercise?
3) What exactly is the content you want to share?
4) What should be the outcome of the communication?
5) What is the support you will require to achieve this?
We have to prioritise and categorise the information; what should come first and what next; how one information category will lead to the other and subsequently, how it will end.
This mind mapping technique is extremely useful as it gives your content a framework. The representation of information in a structured way is called chunking. We cannot have huge paragraphs. Each category of information should have a title and a sub title. The audience will keep pace with your content and delivery only if you are able to separate the content into different categories, prioritise them and then present.
kalpana@acl-india.in
She is the founder of The Academy for Communication and Learning