FREE RESOURCES
THINK CLEARLY, COMMUNICATE CLEARLYHaving a ‘go to' thinking process is often the missing ingredient in professional communication.
FREE email course
4 ideas for communicating complex information
Start communicating with clarity, confidence and cut through now by completing this short, four-part course.
FREE course
How to
Communicate With Impact
Learning to synthesise complex ideas into pithy and powerful communication is critical yet challenging.
This free course provides experts who want to accelerate their careers with a foundation for seeing their good ideas get the traction they deserve.
FREE KIT
A ‘cut and paste' pitch for your boss
You, your boss AND your organisation benefit if you build your communication skills.
But, if you want your manager to invest in your development, you need to do your homework before you have the conversation.
Your manager will want to know exactly why this is the right program for you and how it will help the team and the organisation.
TIME SPENT
60% less time spent preparing papers*
* Source: Client feedback
REWORK REQUIRED
1-2 iterations
(not 5-10 or more …)
RESULTS
Less frustration, better decisions sooner
FREE BOOK CHAPTER
The So What Strategy
Have you ever been caught at the end of a presentation when your audience, perhaps a leadership team or a Steering Committee, looks at you blankly and asks this most uncomfortable question: ‘So what?' How does that help? If you have been in that position once, you don't want to be there again.
You want to know how to answer that question in one single, powerful sentence. Or, even better, set yourself up so nobody asks it.
In this practical book, Davina Stanley and Gerard Castles – communication strategists with decades of experience working with everyone from graduates through to the C-suite – reveal their proven approach.
It’s all about using storylines to get to the ‘So what’ fast, and being able to make a case to back it up. You can unlock the power of the ‘So what’ strategy by taking five steps, which are outlined in this book:
- Understand why mastering storylining is worth the investment.
- Learn how to use a storyline to identify and harness the ‘So what’.
- Master the seven classic storyline patterns.
- Use storylines to shape the communication you share.
- Introduce storylining in your business.
Packed with examples, stories, insights and practical steps, Davina and Gerard show you how to apply these powerful strategies to stop your audiences asking you, ‘So what? How does that help us?
Challenge
See your presentation achieve the ‘Gold Standard'.
A client of mine coined this term, which to him meant that his team could develop communication that ‘got through' the layers within their decision making hierarchy largely unchanged.
He recognised that sometimes leaders wanted to tinker so they felt a sense of contribution and ownership.
However, the gold standard meant that these changes were stylistic, not substantive.
Together we did it.
Solution
Prepare your one-page storyline first and socialise this before any formal communication is prepared.
You might be amazed at how often you won't need a large piece of communication.
You might also be amazed at how you can achieve the Gold Standard too.
Testimonial
“Clarity First was the best course I have done.
I was always confident in my reasoning but not as confident with presenting it, particularly to audiences that were not on my wavelength.
In fact, when I used the approach to present to the sales team last week half of them came up to me individually afterwards to compliment me on my presentation.
That has never happened before!”
Bojana, Customer experience adviser, Sydney Australia