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Great Communicator

Ronald Reagan was known as "The Great Communicator". He knew how to explain things clearly and concisely. Do you want to be a great communicator like Reagan? Yesterday we looked at the first step to becoming a great communicator, eliminating filler words from your language. Today we look at the next step to becoming a great communicator, using the right words.

When I was in college earning my undergrad degree in math education I sat through many math lectures where the professor couldn't explain how to do the math. These were great minds and knew math like the back of their hand. They could do the problems but couldn't explain how to do the problems. The problem was they were horrible communicators and couldn't convey their message. If you want to be a true leader you need to be able to explain things so people understand.

It doesn't happen overnight it is something you really have to work at. You have to understand the person or audience and you have to know the topic. If you know both of those things you should be able to communicate effectively. The key is to be able to explain something so they will understand what you mean. If they don't understand you may have to approach it from a different angle.

Two other things you can't do if you want to be a great communicator. Talk over someones head or talk down to them.

Talking over their head they will not understand what you mean and will quickly tune you out. Talking down to someone will insult them and they won't care what you have to say because you insulted them by treating them as a child.

In conclusion: The second step to being a great communicator. Use the right words by following these four principles.
  •          Know your audience
  •          Know your topic
  •          Don't talk over your audience
  •          Don't talk down to your audience
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