How to Master Clarity in Communication

0:10Hello and welcome to another episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast. This is John Jantz, and my guest today is Steve Woodruff. He is known as the king of clarity. 37 years in the front line of sales, marketing, consulting, and entrepreneurship has equipped Steve to guide others in the principles and practices of clear and effective communication. Long-time listeners will remember that Steve also wrote a book called Clarity Wins. And we're going to talk about his new book today, The Point, How to Win with Clarity-Fueled Communication, which is available probably by the time you listen to this, October of 2023 and beyond.

0:48So, Steve, welcome back to the show. Always a pleasure to talk to you, John. Well, let's start with a definition. How, when somebody says, huh, clarity-fueled communication, what the heck is that? How would you define that? That's very interesting. I had been using the term clarity as my sort of key word for many years. And I realized a couple months ago, have I ever actually defined this thing? You know, really defined it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I wrote a blog post defining what I mean by clarity. But essentially what I'm talking about is communicating in a way that is so simple and easy for the brain to process that instead of pushing people away and shutting their brains down, you're turning the light on.

1:30And that means using vivid, memorable, brief words. So the key word probably in there for me is simplicity, but that does not imply like dummying it down, right? I mean, it's in some ways, it's kind of the obvious, right? It's actually harder to write with clarity and simplicity sometimes, isn't it? much, much harder. In fact, the big default that I'm up against is TMI, too much information. And we are all tempted to try to say too much. And it's really a matter of brain science that has convinced me why that is bad. I mean, we, I think we instinctively know it's bad, but the fact is that the human brain is processing 11 million bits of information per second from all five senses.

2:15and that when you and I are talking to one another, John, it's 60 bits of focus. We can only focus on 60 bits. And what that means is if we're going to win in communication, we've got to win the 60-bit battle against 11 million bits of competitors. How do we do? Well, we've got to be clear, simple, and get right to the point. So I don't want to ruin any of your tools and exercises that we are going to talk about, But I have noticed over the years, what's worked very, very effectively for me is to name things, give things a simple name that somebody can at least go, oh, I think I know what that means.

2:55Or I want to know what that means. And I'm guessing that there's something science-based to that, just that tactic, isn't there? Yeah, there is. It's funny. I call it a memory dart. And a memory dart is a memory dart. So it's a way of phrasing something that is suggestive and has a hook in somebody's mind. So when I tell people I don't like the term elevator pitch for two reasons, number one, nobody likes to talk in the elevator and number two, nobody likes to be pitched. I talk about replacing that with a memory dart, a way of taking your compressed message and sticking it in people's minds. And when you can call something something, as you did with duct tape marketing, that's vivid.

3:39You have a much better chance of sticking than if you keep it generic and technical. Yeah. Yeah. And there have been times over the years where I've tried to explain to somebody all the things that something did or even all the benefits of it. And it's almost overwhelming. Whereas if you say, no, it's like this for this. It seems like all of a sudden they can process it. Yes. I'm a big believer in symbolic language and in side-by-sides. And those are two of the tactics I talk about of brain-friendly shortcuts. When we use side-by-sides, we're saying, here's something you know about. Well, this is like or not like.

4:18That's a shortcut to processing and to recognition. And symbolic language is also incredibly important. So if I say, well, John Janj is the Mercedes of marketers. I've encapsulated in one symbolic word a ton of information and it's memorable and it's suggestive and it's so much better than saying here are 45 bullet points about John and nobody's going to remember 45 bullet points. If you don't mind Steve I'd rather be the Mini Cooper of marketing. Fine that's okay I called my editor Josh Bernoff I called him the Mercedes of business editors and He said, I'd rather be the Tesla. I said, fine, whatever floats your boat, man.

5:01Josh was on a recent show. He has a new book out that kind of puts out some of his teachings on writing. So your framework has four rules. And so maybe let's go there because I really do think that's the basis of at least getting people to start to wrap their head around, how do I do this clarity thing? Right. Well, the first thing that I lead with typically, because everybody understands the need, is you have to get to the point. And we have all experienced the frustration of listening to someone who can't get to the point. Getting to the point means we've got to get to the relevant, interesting thing right away.

5:39But that's actually rule number two. Rule number one is you have to have a point. and oh oops so many meetings presentations discussions you don't know if the person actually knows what they're talking about why they're even bringing this up so you have to have a clear purpose and destination that you can articulate yourself in a very short i i figure if you can't define your point in one sentence you need to do some work before you start communicating because unless you know the point, you can't get to the point. So you got to have a point, which is the shift that you're seeking to create in your audience's mind.

6:19You've got to get to the point. The third thing is you have to get the point across, which means that even if we're using the same language and using words that we both know somehow, know these words, we might not define them the same way. So if I use the term marketing, I'm going to have a whole bunch of meanings. That's my favorite. Oh, strategy is another beauty. There will be a whole list of meanings, thoughts, definitions, ideas, and experiences. And you and I can use these words back and forth and not really be in our understanding. So we've got to make sure we simplify and define and illustrate.

6:56That's getting the point across. And then the goal, especially in business, is we want to get on the same page. So we're trying to reach alignment. an agreement, an action, and summarize that in writing. So if you look at that sequence, have a point, get to the point, get the point across, and get on the same page. That's essentially the recipe for every form of communication. You can use that for emails, presentations, books, podcasts, everything has those four rules. And it respects the way the human brain wants information. So would you say, obviously the best part would be to have those four rules in mind as you're starting to write a draft maybe even, but would you say that you could also go back and take any piece of content that's been written and say, does it have a point?

7:47Did it get to the point? I mean, it kind of almost do that same sort of filtering. That's one of the fun exercises I do in my workshops with my corporate clients is we'll take a block of stuff, text, ideas, whatever, and say, all right, let's dig into this and find the point. How would you actually bring out the point? Because if we present unstructured information to people, if we give them the haystack and not the needle, we're going to shut them down. So we've got to say, here's the needle. Here's what we're talking about. Now we can progress to a greater level of detail once we know what we're talking about.

8:25So let's talk about length, because I'm guessing that the the default or maybe the assumption in somebody writing is, oh, that means my writing needs to be very short. But that's not exactly what you're saying, is it? No, there's some level of detail that's necessary. So one of my most important strategies in the book is what I call stratification. If you have a block of information and if you envision a pyramid with three levels, at the very top of the pyramid is the distilled essence, the point, the most important thing we're shooting for here. You got to start with that. And then once people know the point, they will be receptive to hearing a little bit more, some background or some context or some stories, then they'll be receptive to details as much as they need.

9:11So it's not that we're throwing all the information out, but we have to sequence it in a way that makes it palatable. So if you go to a restaurant and you order, you know, five courses and they just bring out everything at once, the dessert, the wine, the appetizer, the soup, you know, all great food. I wanted it, but this is not the sequence I was looking for. Well, in some ways that's, you know, the classic sort of copywriting is like spend 80 % of your time on the headline. Right. And, and I mean, in some ways it's like, that's the ad for like, whether or not you should invest your time to go any further, because there've been times I've read, I don't know, 3000 word emails or sales pages because I said, this is worth me investing my time in.

9:58There's also been times when I've gone. So, so in a lot of ways, that's what you're saying is like the point may not necessarily be like the hook per se, but it's the thing that's going to bring me in. It's the thing that appeals to you on the level of personal relevance. It's the what's in it for me as an audience, the WIIFM. So salespeople know about the WIIFM because you've got to talk about the benefit. Well, in fact, for every communication with every person, we have to lead with the WIIFM, the what's in it for you. So email, John, is one of the areas where I encourage the most immediate change, which is the visual real estate of the subject line in the first sentence is where you're going to win or lose on emails because you're in an inbox that's full of stuff and always growing.

10:49and the person that's receiving email is going to skim, delete, put off, maybe read. Well, if I don't get the point right up there in the subject line, the first sentence, I run the risk of never being seen. And so that's where you've got to say, here's the call to action. Here's the deadline. Here's what I'm looking for. And then the details can be later, but you got to hook them first. Yeah. And it's funny in email because in a lot of email programs, of course, you know, that first sentence is, you know, I can see half of that before you even open the email. Right. And so it might, you might not even, you know, you might be talking about a couple of hundred characters, but you better hook them because they're going to decide to, you know, not even open it.

11:28Let's talk about consistency. You know, a lot of organizations, everybody in the organization is creating content today. Right. Cause that's, that's what we do. How do we, you know, how do we make sure that we are all, you know, once clarity is found, you know, how do we make sure that everybody across the board is using that consistent language because you know how people are. I mean, they just, yes, here's my style, you know? And so, but, but from a brand promise standpoint, you know, once we find that message, boy, sticking with it is important. Hey, if you ever tried to hire freelancers and found that the quality of work was lacking, or you got all the outsourcing excuses as to why the work didn't get done on time.

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12:47So that's it. Go to desk team 360 dot info and book your call today. That's one of my biggest burdens with with this book is that I've worked with a lot of corporate clients and they all have a set of all these different formulas. Here's our selling formula. Here's our marketing formula. Here's our blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 15 different acronyms, recipes, whatever. No consistency. And that means that there is no clear communication consistency in the organization because it's all fragmented. So in coming up with this formula that's in the book, I wanted to see if there could be one formula that fit everybody, every human being in an organization.

13:27And so the four rules and the eight tools are completely universal and they provide the framework of a language that a team or an entire organization can standardize on so that people can reinforce best practices instead of all be fragmented with their own thing. So there's a point in the book, and I think this is a point you're making. Correct me if I'm wrong. You know, I think that a lot of people will get to the point where their clear messaging is helping the organization focus. However, I think you took the leap to say, really, that's our job is to actually help the reader focus. Now, did I misinterpret that?

14:04But I really love that point. And I hope that's the point you were making. Sounds like a good one. If not addition to. Right. That's right. No, the idea of focus is for everyone in the organization and especially leaders. Leaders in an organization have got to have clear focus and put it into clear words so that their people can have clear expectations of what they're to do. And this is one of the big gaps I find as far as clarity is you might have somebody that could make a good sales message or make a good marketing message, but they're not clear in the way that they discuss things with the people they're coaching or managing and leading.

14:45And so you want clarity to percolate through everything, whatever you write, whatever you say, every meeting you have. And that means it's an ongoing pursuit. It's not a one and done deal. I'm still struggling with it every single day. Okay. I want to push a little bit on that because then you may not have said this directly, but I got this from the, I think great communication actually helps the reader focus. because in marketing, a lot of times the most effective marketing helps a reader understand the problem they couldn't articulate or the symptom of what's wrong in their business that they couldn't put a name to.

15:22And that's where I went with focus because I think that the best writing actually does that for the reader. Yeah. The best writing is going to create mental pictures in the reader's mind and give them, as you said, the labels that they've been looking for. Maybe they didn't even know they didn't have. And so when you have good, creative, vivid language that somebody reads and the light bulb goes on, oh, that's what I'm looking for. That's what I'm needing. Oh man, it's just, it's wonderful. And so what I often do is I say, look, there's two levels of writing. One is the technically accurate explanation and you want to start there.

16:01Then you got to have the really cool way of saying it that's going to turn the light on and be memorable. You can't just leave it at technically accurate. You've got to be able to say it in a way that the human brain loves. And that's the eight shortcuts that I talk about in the book that all start with S, stories, snippets, statements, side-by-side, symbolic language. That's what all that is meant to do, is to give that aha to the reader. So step one, really define it, as you say, as you call it, technically accurate, it, but, but don't certainly don't stop there. I mean, that's half the job.

16:36And when somebody's come in to say, okay, how's this going to work for me at that point? You know, they need the technically accurate definition. Right. But, but before they're even going to, I was going to say, waste the time, spend the time to find out that it's got to have the cool thing. Yeah. It's got to be appealing and simple. And we, we underestimate the power of simplicity, but I don't care how smart somebody is. I don't care how many degrees they have. simple language works, brevity works, vividness works. And that's how, if we're going to be great marketers and great authors and great consultants, that's how we've got to, we got a front load with interesting, relevant stuff.

17:18If people are going to engage, otherwise there's too many options. I mean, every one of us has a smartphone and you know, if you're presenting and in the first minute or two, you're not getting to the point, it doesn't matter how valuable your stuff face. You're done. Everybody's going to be tuned out. Yeah. And, you know, I read a lot of fiction as well as nonfiction. And, you know, fiction writers, I think, are very good at, good fiction writers, very good at dragging you in and you going, I want to know. It's almost like the narrative makes you want to know what happens. So now you'll slog through the 200 pages of character development, you know, because they drug you in.

17:55I want to push back on one idea. I mean, I'm 100 % agree with you, but I just want to hear, you know, I know where some people might lead. And I'm going to use an example that you used in yours. I think you can run the risk of oversimplifying, I believe. And you used the idea of the Hippocratic Oath in the book. And that's a brilliant example of where people have not only oversimplified, they've butchered it. First, do no harm is what everybody says. But the actual document says, I will abstain from all intentional wrongdoing and harm, which is much different than first do no harm. If a doctor first did no harm, they wouldn't cut you open to save your heart.

18:35And I think that the point I'm making here is that I will, I think it's abstain, abstain from all intended wrongdoing and harm is a very different meaning than what sort of the oversimplification over the years has turned that, you know, that idea in. And we all use it. Everybody's used. I mean, right. Is that, but it's technically not accurate. So maybe I've butchered this example of what I was trying to get to. But I think sometimes in a in a in a rush to be cute, almost, you know, sometimes we can actually really send the wrong message or oversimplify so badly that people don't really have the right expectation.

19:13Well, I think in the example there, my point in the book was don't overwhelm the human brain. Here's what you just don't want to do. In any instance, you do not want to overwhelm the brain because that is going to defeat the purpose. That is not what you're to do as a communicator. What you're trying to do is turn the light on, not turn it off. So the verbal shorthand of the Hippocratic Oath, yeah, I mean, there's some work that could be done there. But it's a familiar term and it's a side by side that people can relate to. But the point of the thing is that we can't commit malpractice as communicators by just defeating the purpose of, you know, if I've got this person on the table when I've got a scalp and I say, let's just let's just cut them open and bleed them all out and see what happens.

20:05Well, that's really not so good whether I intended it or not. Yeah. And the overcomplicated thing too. I mean, I've done it over the years and every one, like 100 % of the time, if I send out something and say, Hey, I've got three options for you, you can do this or this or this, nothing. But if I send out something that says, here's what you must do and why, you know, way better response, even though I think, well, gosh, I'm giving them options. You know, they can pick good, better, best, but it's like, now they can't pick. As you know, as you know, there's some, And there's some science behind that, that the more options people have, the more they delay, the harder it is to make a decision.

20:43So I've made major changes in the last three years to the way I email. I used to have emails that were more comprehensive, maybe have multiple themes. And I realized nobody wants to respond to that. So I typically make every single email one theme only with maybe one call to action. And it's like, you can do something right now with this. way, way better. Yeah. And I know my most effective emails over the year are me just saying, you know, here's something that happened to me the other day. And I'm wondering what you think about, you know, and just kind of get into like this story and people are like, huh, I felt like I was talking to you, you know, as opposed to, you know, the, the whole, like this, this, this, this, you know, here's new idea of the week.

21:24So Steve, I appreciate you shopping by the duct tape marketing podcast. You want to tell people where they can pick up a copy of the point or connect with you in any way that you think makes sense? Sure. So I can be found, I do a lot of my work on LinkedIn. That's where I share a lot of information, write a lot of posts, have a newsletter. So if you looked at LinkedIn and do Steve Woodruff or King of Clarity, or either both, you'll find me. I'm also at stevewoodruff.com. That website's in the middle of a rebrand and refresh, but by the time this reaches the audience, it should be done. And then the books can be seen on Amazon.

21:56The point is there due out October 17th, but it can be pre-ordered before that. Clarity Wins is there on Amazon. Clarity Wins was self-published on the Amazon platform, so it's only available there. The point is through Morgan James Publisher, so it's going to be in bookstores. It's at Barnes & Noble. It'll be at other online ventures as well. Awesome. Well, again, I appreciate you taking the time to stop by, and hopefully we'll see you again one of these days out there on the road, Steve. Sounds good, John. Thanks.