You may be thinking “what on earth is Priscilla going on about!” so let me reveal that K.I.S.S. means:
KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID!
This is quite an old approach to communication but no less effective for that. The more complex your communication gets, the less effective it is.
Complicated communication is:
- Hard for the audience to follow in a logical pattern.
- Difficult to remember.
- Hard to understand.
When communicating we tend to try to tell the audience everything we know. Unfortunately the more we say, the less the message is understood. We are familiar with the content and we forget that it is NEW to the audience and they need help to process it.
Ideally, your presentation should be one with a single idea which is structured in a straight-forward way and presented in an engaging manner.
Nowadays, we increasingly hear business people complain that they are being bombarded with ‘buzz’ words and jargon when really all they want is to be able to fully understand and remember.
A successful rugby coach only taught his team about a dozen ‘set pieces’. He said “A simple move, executed with precision and speed is more likely to push the ball forward than a complex one.” Simplicity was therefore the key to his team’s success.
A Public Speaker also needs to pass the ball into the receivers’ hands (his audience). Complexity may cause the ball to be dropped.
In conclusion then:
“KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID”
Give it a try and let me know how it works for you.
If you want to see a really powerful example of this idea in practice take a look at any of Winston Churchill’s war theme speeches and compare them with the way many politicians ‘wrap up’ information today in over complicated detail.
As the great man said:
“Short words are best and the old words when short, are best of all”
I look forward to bringing you another message soon and thanks for reading this one.
Don’t forget to:
Speak wisely
Speak well
Speak Loud & Clear!
Web: www.loudandclearuk.com/
Twitter: @VoiceExpert