Did you realise that we spend at least 75% each day in some form of communication?

Your ideas and opinions are useless unless you can get them across and to do that you need to present them in some sort of appropriate sequence.

Whether you are :

• A salesperson making a call
• An executive preparing for a speech
• A trainer taking a workshop
• A manager informing a team……

You need to ORGANISE YOUR MESSAGE

Our life is full of sequences:

• The heart beats in rhythm
• We eat meals in a pattern
• The food in each meal is eaten in an appropriate sequence
• We dress in a particular order which we choose

When we write, the words have a grammatical sequence

So, find the SEQUENCE that best fits the MESSAGE and it will be more readily understood.

Here are some of the sequences that can be useful in communication.

NUMERICAL or ALPHABETICAL
Needs no explanation, I think.

CHRONOLOGICAL
Before to after: history: growth: the movement of time.

PROGRESSIVE
Introducing information bit by bit until your listeners can fully understand.

LOGICAL
We all need logical sequences which move from beginning to end.

SPATIAL
Maps: images: visual:graphs & plans.

TOPICAL
Animal, vegetable and mineral.
The who, what, when, where, why and how?

MOTIVATIONAL
Build interest and rapport: create desire: show emotion.

A mistake in the communication sequence can be disastrous e.g. you wouldn’t paint new road markings until you had dug it up to replace the pipes – reversing the sequence just doesn’t work.

Use these guidelines for common sequences if you are ever asked to give an IMPROMPTU SPEECH.  it will help to keep you going with a sense of pattern and logic which helps you and your audience.

Enjoy all your communication this month and remember:

Have a good month and see you in October

Twitter: @VoiceExpert