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The art of effective communication skills
Plus: Financial & career workshops hosted by RBC
Michael Ly
14 Nov
Read Time: 7 min
Hi networkers,
I want to start off this article with a quote I ran across on the web a few days ago.
If you can’t explain it to a 6-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.”
It reminded me of one of the best career advice I was told - a person’s knowledge of a concept isn’t based on how much they know, but rather their ability to explain it in simple terms.
This one advice transformed my communication skills, and how I approached learning new things.
Today, I’ll share how to adopt this idea to accelerate your own learning in anything.
🏁 Here’s the route for this week’s run:
🎙️ Topic: Simplify Your Language
🚨 Newsletter Name Change
💡 The Hemingway Editor
📍 Checkpoints: Go-To Networking Events
TOPIC
Simplify Your Language
A professor explaining a concept to a child
Before my internships, I was always impressed by complex-sounding language.
I would go to these networking panels, and hear professionals say buzzwords like “digital transformation” or “data infrastructure governance”.
“Wow these guys must know their stuff,” I told myself, despite not understanding half the things they said.
It wasn’t until I started doing presentations that I saw how unnecessary it was to over-complicate language.
In the beginning, I copied the same jargon that had impressed me. But whenever the audience asked me to clarify what I meant, I’d be stumped.
My inability to reword my thoughts taught me that I didn’t actually know as much as I thought I did.
I mean, the whole point of a presentation is so the audience understands your points right?
So then, why make things sound more complex than they are?
In my experience, there are two reasons:
Dramatization: people do this when explaining their work to impress others because it makes their job sound cooler
Lack of Expertise: when people use fancy buzzwords, it’s to mask the fact that they don’t know what they’re talking about
In my case, I was guilty of #2.
This is where that quote from earlier comes into play because how much you know about a topic is about how simple you can explain it.
Personally, I find the quote a bit harsh. There’s just some stuff I would have trouble explaining to a 6-year-old.
So instead, I adopted my own version of the quote:
Would I be able to explain this to a class of 5th-graders?
Now, whenever I have to do a presentation or test my knowledge on something, I ask myself that question.
It always gives me a clear idea of how much more I need to learn and ensures I can communicate my points effectively.
Actionable Step
Here’s a simple exercise the next time you need to prepare for an exam, a presentation, an interview, etc.
Put away your notes, and talk about the material out loud.
Pretend as if you’re explaining the subject to a 5th-grader.
It’ll help you see how much (or how little) you really know.
Until next time!
-Michael Ly
ANNOUNCEMENT
Newsletter Name Change
Email being revamped by construction workers
This newsletter once called The Starting Line, is now The Leap Sprint moving forward.
Why? The Starting Line was simply too common.
From a US rock band to multiple digital agencies, the name was already being used by a lot of people.
So…what does The Leap Sprint stand for?
"Leap Sprint" conveys a sense of dynamic action and rapid progress. Here's a breakdown of the elements:
Leap: Implies taking a significant step forward, suggesting growth, advancement, and the initiation of a journey or pursuit.
Sprint: A term used in product management when a team sets a period of time to work on dedicated goals. It implies speed, agility, and quick progress
With the community growing everyday, I wanted to make the switch now rather than later. 🙂
(Name change could affect inboxes, so you might need to move this back into your primary tab, sorry in advance!)
TIP/TOOL OF THE WEEK
The Hemingway App
Fancy writing app with a digital feather pen over the screen
Simple language isn’t just great for presentations. They’re also effective in writing.
Studies show that response rates for emails and cold messages increase if the content is written at or below a 6-grade reading level.
That’s why I love using the Hemingway Editor (#notsponsored..yet?), it takes the content I write and removes the unnecessary fluff.
Try it out for yourselves here - https://hemingwayapp.com
GO-TO NETWORKING EVENTS
📍Checkpoints📍
Financial/Career Events with RBC
Time: Nov 14 - 28, 3:00 - 4:00 pm EST (Online)
Detail: From topics like budgeting 101 to effective job searching, sign up for a series of RBC workshops to level up your skillsets! Full details in the link.
What You Need to Know About Starting a Career in Sales
KPMG - Healthcare and Life Sciences Consulting Recruiting Information Session
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