Chapter 2
Knowing What You Want to Achieve
In This Chapter
Addressing what’s important to you
Considering your listener’s needs
Dealing with roadblocks that impede your success
If what you see every day in shops and cafes is representative, a lot of people need to work on their communication. Plenty of people appear to think that communication consists of talking at people and hoping that some of what they say sticks. You’d never guess that the purpose of communication is to convey clear messages that other people understand.
Often the problem is that speakers aren’t clear even in their own minds of what they want to achieve, and so unsurprisingly they fail to communicate in a way that makes sense to those listening (see Chapter 4 for more about listening). Listeners misinterpret messages because these speakers fail to consider two points:
What they want to happen as a result of delivering their message.
How to deliver their message in a way that listeners can grasp.
In this chapter ...
