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Clear communication is one of a successful workplace’s most precious — and underappreciated — currencies. When business leaders communicate clearly, they prompt genuine understanding, provoke directed action and help listeners spread an accurate message to others. The benefits for teams and companies are significant.
But clear communication is hardly the norm in the workplace because it relies on clear thinking — and clarity of thought is more elusive than many of us believe.
So What? The Framework of Storytelling
There are several approaches that can help individuals think — and thus, communicate — more clearly.
For Matt Abrahams, lecturer in organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business, it’s the use of the “What?, So what?, Now what?” framework, which he calls “an indispensable tool for various scenarios, from impromptu interactions to crucial business presentations.”
The framework is built on three questions:
- Start by defining the “what”: the facts, the situation, your position or other basic information that sets the scene.
- Next, answer the question “so what?” by describing the implications, importance or relevance of the “what.”
- Then, answer the question “now what?” by suggesting a call-to-action or next steps.
J.D. Schramm, author of "Mastery in Communication" and adjunct faculty at USC’s Annenberg School, uses a similar approach he calls AIM, which stands for: “Who’s my Audience? What is my Intent? What is my Message?”
Other frameworks he falls back on are, “Before, During, After” and “Pros, Cons, Options.”
These frameworks are useful because they express a progression of thought, much like setting a story that listeners can follow and internalize.
“Our brains are not wired for lists of information,” explained Abrahams, who says beyond three items, he needs to write them down. “Our brains are wired for structure, for story.”
Communicating clearly, with the help of a storytelling structure, is helpful for the workplace for many reasons, including:
- It helps communicators think through what they are trying to express, including what they’d like their listener to do with the information.
- It helps communicators be concise and cut down on the extraneous verbiage and meandering logic that can confuse listeners.
- It helps listeners process information better, so they can understand it, internalize it and share it with others.
Related Article: How to Deliver Communications That Stick
Applying Communications Frameworks in the Workplace
Workplace leaders and their teams can apply any of the communication frameworks with good effect in a range of scenarios:
- Honing email communications. Not only can we make emails more logical and concise with “What?, So What?, Now What?”, we can also use this type of framework to think through whether we need to send the email in the first place.
- Giving updates and introductions. Applying the framework is an excellent way to structure updates and introductions during meetings. “You can introduce yourself by changing the ‘what?’ to ‘who?’” Abrahams says.
- Explaining something new. These frameworks can be particularly useful in explaining a new project, function or service. If your team is working on a new product release, for example, a leader might use this structure to describe the project, express why the team should buy in and set next steps.
- Preparing for unanticipated questions. Schramm often uses these frameworks to help business leaders and public speakers prepare for the Q&A portion of a presentation or talk. Cultivating clear thinking with this strategy helps people prepare to answer questions without rambling.
- Improving impromptu communication. The “What?, So what?, Now what?” framework can particularly help in impromptu communication such as small talk with coworkers or unanticipated meetings. Even if you don’t structure your actual responses this way, the practice of thinking things through using this framework can help you communicate better, Abrahams says.
Leaders can be instrumental in helping other members of the team learn the frameworks and improve their communications. Abrahams however cautions that while these frameworks are helpful, they are not second nature for most people, so leaders and their teams will need time and effort to proactively apply them in their thinking, speaking and writing.
“In order to get good at this, you have to practice,” said Abrahams.
One habit that can help put these into practice, he says, is to apply them to every interaction, even when you’re not the one communicating. “After you read or hear something or participate in a meeting, ask yourself for 30 seconds: ‘What was that about? Why was it important? What can I do with that information?’”
And in today’s environment of information overload, we all have ample opportunity to practice these actions.
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“Because of the volume of data and the speed at which things are coming at us, I think it’s all the more important for people to have some framework that they can use in triaging and responding,” said Schramm.
