Page 60 - The Voice of Authority

We all think we’re clear communicators; otherwise, we
wouldn’t say what we do. So what signals trouble, and
which safeguards ensure success?

Beware the Blank Stare

At my “Get Your Book Published” workshop, I was lead-
ing attendees to formulate their book idea for a proposal
to a literary agent. It was Susan’s turn to “pitch” her book
concept to the group. After her pitch, the group fell totally
silent—not a word of feedback from anyone. Finally,
someone spoke up, “I don’t get it—could you elaborate?”
She gladly did so for the next five minutes. Gradually, the
group “got” her concept—and gave her intriguing feed-
back for the next 10 minutes.
But then the strangest thing happened. During the re-
mainder of the seminar, Susan never changed the way she
worded her pitch letter—even after it met with that first
collective blank stare. It didn’t seem to occur to her that
her original pitch lacked clarity—that if nobody “got it,”
she should change the way she expressed the written pitch.
The same thing happens back on the job. The boss drafts
a report and asks a staff member to proofread it. The as-
sistant brings the report back with a section marked and
says, “I don’t understand what you mean here,” To which
the boss replies, “Oh, that’s technical—it’ll be clear to the
lawyers when they review it.” Two weeks later, the lawyers
ask for a rewrite of the same section.
I’ve watched this scene unfold time and time again.
People always assume the confusion happens on the other
end of the communication—that what they themselves say
is perfectly clear and that the other person just missed it
somehow. A better gauge of our own clarity: Beware the
blank stare.

48 The Voice of Authority