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Are you a good communicator? How can you know? Why should you care?

Many business problems between you and your customers or between you and your vendors can be traced back to bad communication. Sure, there are cases in which purposeful distortions are to blame. But in most business transactions, the buyers and sellers honestly seek to eliminate all miscommunication so each gets what each wants.

So, what makes a good communicator? Don’t fret. There’s no need to rush to a voice coach or join Toastmasters (although neither of those options would hurt). And you don’t need to be Shakespeare to get your point across in writing (although if you can’t spell or write a simple sentence, you will be at a disadvantage). Just follow these five simple rules.

Rule 1: Remember the objective—to communicate.
It doesn’t matter how eloquent or clever your message, is if the other person doesn’t understand it. Seek to speak the language used and understood best by those with whom you wish to communicate. That means you should know your customer and vendor.

Rule 2: Drop all pretenses.
Don’t pump up the verbiage with $25 words, when 25-cent words will do just fine. Conversely, don’t speak down to your listeners. Most of all remember, no one is offended by plain language. Speak and write plainly.

Rule 3: Keep in mind the “rule of three.”
When delivering your message sum it up to begin, outline the details, then sum it up to end. People find it easy to digest things in threes. ABC. 1-2-3. Beginning, middle, end.

Rule 4: Write the way you speak.
All too often excellent communicators who have no problem getting their messages across verbally become almost incoherent when they sit down at the keyboard or pick up a pencil. They mistakenly think written words need to be different in some way than spoken words. Be consistent. Speak and write in the same way, the way that works.

Rule 5: Listen and ask.
All great communicators listen before they speak or write. How else can you know what your listener or reader wants and understands? Listen to your customers, and they will tell you what it is that they want.

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