It is hard to be clear. It is hard to be concise. It is hard to be compelling. It is really hard to be all three at the same time! For that important presentation, however, mastering the art of being all three is essential to creating passionate support from your audience. It is the difference between “that sounds good; let’s review it and get back together” and “Wow, we need to do this now!
Be Clear. It is human nature to be vague, even when we try to be clear. Language is imprecise and often the words we use cannot completely describe the thought. And then there is our unspoken body language, which often confuses or distracts from our words. To further complicate matters, we often start with only a “rough idea” of what we want to say. Being clear starts with taking the time to fully think through exactly what we are proposing and why.
