Monday Mastery: A simple framework for effective communication
Sticky notes, frameworks for approaching conversations, ETC.
Welcome to Monday Mastery, a series designed to shift your perspective, teach you new techniques, and help you become a more effective writer, one tip at a time.
On the lid of my laptop, there is a bright pink sticky note with this message: What makes communication effective?
It’s been there for three years.
It’s such a simple question, but I’ve spent the last three years obsessing over it.
It was my guiding light in graduate school, when I was researching how generative AI was affecting strategic communication.
It’s the question I try to answer when I explain to an author I’m editing or a student I’m teaching why they should change the structure of a particular sentence.
It’s the question I sit with before getting on a call with a potential new client — or calling my neighbor about her dogs being loose in my yard again, or talking to my daughter’s teacher to understand how they’re teaching a math skill so I can better help at home.
Each scenario is a unique communication challenge, but they all boil down to the same equation: how I get my message across + how I understand (listen to and ask questions to uncover) what my audience needs.
(I use the word “audience” to cover the spectrum of a one-to-one email conversation all the way to speaking to a large audience of people.)
In my studies, I discovered a framework that works really well as an answer that equation: ETC.
Empathetic — seeking to help my audience achieve their needs, in addition to trying to achieve mine.
Timely — communicating promptly whenever possible, or taking time to give my message thought if required; but always respecting the timeliness of the topic at hand.
Clear — putting clarity and concision before cleverness and fluff; making sure my message comes across accurately, and that I accurately understand my audience’s response.
This framework is reliable … if you use it.
Sometimes, it’s hard. Sometimes, emotions are running high, or it feels like a high-conflict situation, and it’s so tempting to force your message across, delay your communication, or dance around the point.
Trust me, I’m guilty of all three of those things.
But still, it’s a useful framework to keep on hand — kind of like the sticky note on my laptop.
When you need to get a message across, how can you empathize with your reader, communicate in a timely manner and still be clear?
Put ETC on a sticky note on your laptop and see what happens.