Bravo if they do – it usually means not only are you great at what you do, but you’re also a great communicator. 

If you don’t particularly relish speaking up in front of your colleagues, if you hate writing or indeed spend most of your online meetings debating why only your chin gets top billing, what can you do about it?

For starters, you could try polishing up your messaging. Clear and clean messages win every time, especially when they resonate with the priorities and concerns of those you’re trying to communicate with. Do you make assumptions, or do you really know what they think? If not, there’s no excuse. If you’re going for diamond status, do your homework so that you’re more likely to be on the money with what they really want or need to know.

There now follows a party political broadcast. ’Get Brexit done’, ‘Oven-ready’ Covid tests, or the latest ‘Hands, Face, Space’ messaging may leave us yelling, reassured or downright depressed, The thing is, aside from the emotional residue, the phrases are surely imprinted on our toddler memory.

Whilst only time will be the final measure of promises made about brighter futures, when it comes to our divisive politics and the rise of populism, a simplistic mantra or catchy soundbite wins over a lengthy nuanced argument every time. Unless, of course, overplayed and undelivered they become irritating nonsense.

In any case, surely it’s time for an effective counter balance to the over wordy? While much has already been written about short attention spans, or in some quarters the diminishing currency of experience and academic expertise, it does seem that it’s not only politicians who need to wake up to the ways to communicate in our ‘new normal’(…).

Not to suggest that complex information should be dumbed down, but we can only be part of resurrecting informed debate and decision making if at the very least, we keep people awake. The advent of the virtual office means our writing needs to speak for us now more than ever before, as does our considered and pithy contributions to online team meetings.

If we’re working from home, we need to adjust to the fact, if we haven’t done so already, that the online call is much more than just an important time to reconnect with our colleagues. It’s also an opportunity to build trust and re-present our professional value to those we work alongside - in ways that are shiny, clear and impactful.  

This may mean thinking again about how you frame your thoughts and ideas so that they deliberately target their priorities and concerns – not just all you know about a subject. Where appropriate you can send your notes later to those who need the finer detail of nuts and bolts - otherwise clean summaries, bite size sections or high quality graphics will best represent you in your absence. 

The point again is, what do your messages do to other people? Are they memorable? Do they stick?  The more immersed we are in a subject, the more knowledgeable and expert we are, the horribly easier it is to bury our best ideas in the detail.

 Edward de Bono has long espoused the importance of simplicity. He asks why, when we’re only able to access 20% of the capacity of most of our technology, are product manuals still steeped in such dense jargon? He says a lot more than that, but you get the gist!

Certainly, I agree with him. Over the years, I have coached hundreds of very clever people, cajoling at least 90% of them to dig out and retrieve their most important messages, usually buried somewhere on page 15, or slide 49 - and think again about where they will be best highlighted.

Please, please can we stop! This is a heartfelt plea. Let’s live in a world where we skip through our business reading. And if you’re preparing to speak online or in writing? Do yourself a favour and take the time you need to polish and shine your ideas through careful redrafting, or asking for a second opinion when the stakes are high.

Commit to making your next presentation, report or speech dazzlingly fit for purpose. And if it isn’t? Brace yourself. It might be time to see it, say it and sort it!