Remembering that in communication, structure is power

Big Ideas often get a little misplaced in the everyday work of Getting-Things-Done.

This week, I’ve been ruminating on the importance of how the gist of what we say changes based on how we organise how we say it. In the event that you don’t have time to think about this much either, I thought I’d put it out for further discussion.

Everyone with a story — from entrepreneur to CEO — should remember structure is your best friend when planning — and then engaging in — communication.

Every thing you say should lead your listener to want to hear more. This isn’t about being clever about wording, although there is a bit of that. The most important piece is knowing how your listeners listen — and then prioritizing information to make your listeners want to hear more.

This might seem too obvious to publish widely, but I find that too often even very smart people rush to “deliver” a presentation or a speech. There often isn’t enough time between assignment and deadline to remember that communication isn’t a parcel. With information, we have much more control over how it’s constructed, wrapped and received.

I’ve been scanning the hard copy of my PhD thesis from the last century only to (re)discover that my students at Brown also got an earful of this. In drama or any other art form, adjust a convention slightly, and the entire meaning changes.

Look at Romeo and Juliet, for example (as many have): Shakespeare wrote a comedy — until the end. What might have been funny in another context — a flaky guy who adores forever one girl until he claps eyes on another, messaging mix-ups — is not so funny when everyone dies.

Too theoretical? The way you structure a communication changes meaning off the page as well. Put a student at a lectern and the prof in the gallery, and power shifts. Put an employee at the front of the room and the boss at the back, and who’s got the floor? Theatre, business, university — the way we recognise leadership and who has the power doesn’t change much across contexts.

Too spatial? Lead with a strength — say, your high sales growth this quarter — and people are much more likely to listen to the next thing you have to say. Start with a joke — and don’t tell anyone where you’re going with it by way of headline — and you’re taking a much bigger risk that anyone will follow further.

Looking forward to your Big Ideas on Medium and elsewhere.