It’s this: taking the time to cultivate your “communicational style”.
Just think about it:
Have you ever listened to a presentation that appeared to have most of the basic essentials:
the “right” words, images, a relevant message, a clear speaker…
AND despite that, it still fell flat?
I’ve seen this happen.
Words were spoken but there wasn’t enough energy or the appropriate emotion behind them.
That’s why the message didn’t light up and linger in my mind.
All because of ONE main reason:
the speaker wasn’t “wearing” the words they were using.
So the communication came across as more cardboard cut-out than embodied and alive. 💖
It’s an easy trap to fall into when you’re at an advanced level of a foreign language like English.
You understand and have accumulated a LOT of words & expressions.
So there’s a tendency to want to use them all.
Whether they feel like you or not.
That’s why you need to think about your communication like your business wardrobe.
Be selective.
Make it bespoke. Boutique. Unique. ✨
Because certain words or expressions, even though we understand them, don’t resonate.
It’s like the oversized and now outdated jacket a friend persuaded you to buy (those overused business clichés).
Or the shoes that you were convinced you would “grow into” with time (excessively sophisticated jargon). 👠
They never really fit YOU. So why force yourself to use them?
It’s a strategy that doesn’t work.
Instead, take the time to TRY ON words, expressions, strategies, analogies and build up your communicational wardrobe.
Give them a twirl. Test how they look and feel.
See how their fabric falls on your skin.
Imagine where you would use them.
How you could accessorize them. To really make them stand out.
The objective is to choose the ones that fit you like your favourite suit.
The suit that caught your eye as you were strolling past.
The suit that, when you put it on, felt so amazing that you couldn’t NOT buy it.
The suit that you feel like your best self in. 🌟
When your communication has your “label” on it,
when you’ve personalized it with the perfume of you,
there’s real meaning. A deeper connection.
Between the language and you.
Between you and your listener.
And who doesn’t want that?
What do you think about designing a wardrobe with words that fit?