Clear Communication Archives - Page 4 of 9

Relationship-focused communication

I've always thought that communication involves thinking about relationships For me, the relationship often comes first: it informs the decisions I make about how and when to communicate I frequently find myself making decisions about message content, tone, format, and timing on the basis of what I'm trying to achieve with the relationship Usually the decisions have something to do with building, maintaining, or enhancing a relationship with my audience or reader Most of the time,...

Break communication conventions at your peril

I visited Townsville this week to run a short course in workplace writingThe hotel where I stayed broke a basic communication convention: there was no logical link between the room numbers and the floor numbersIn most hotels, room 32 would be on the third floor This convention makes is easy to navigate hotels - with their confusing lifts and corridors - no matter where you are But this hotel put room 32 on the fourth floorFor two days, I had to make a conscious effort to match my room number...

Wayfinding difficulties at the art gallery

I'm emerging from a fog of overwork just in time for Christmas To celebrate my free day yesterday, we went to the Brisbane art galleries The two exhibitions that we saw were wonderful But finding our way around proved to be more of a challenge even though we've been to both galleries several times over the years It was the signage to find the cafe and toilets that caused us troubleAfter seeing the first exhibition, in the Gallery of Modern Art, we decided that lunch would be a good...

Technology that helps (and hinders) good communication

Last week I went along to an event for Science Week It involved five school students giving short presentations about their science projects and Queensland’s Chief Scientist speaking about the future of science It was inspiring – particularly for the children in the audience, who were given a glimpse of what science can offerThe communication technology used to support the event caught my attention – partly because the surroundings were deliberately high-tech, and partly because the...

Creating communication confusion

It's all too easy to create communication confusion - and often difficult to work out how or why it happensI recently managed to create confusion amongst some work colleagues, and it has left me wondering about how to prevent similar mistakes happening againThe situation was simple enough I was due to have a meeting with three colleagues, at the university campus where I work one day a week But a few hours before the scheduled meeting, I had a phone call from school: I needed to collect my...

Evaluating evaluation forms

My 10-year-old son attended a science workshop today, and when it ended he was asked to complete an evaluation formHe did what most of us do when we're given an evaluation form: he completed it quickly, without giving it too much thoughtI was struck by the 'teacher-focused language' that it used I can't help but wonder whether the children could reasonably answer the questions and whether there could be any consistency in the ways that the group of children would...

Word templates that confuse and frustrate

As a consultant, I frequently write proposals and tenders They're an essential part of finding workMost of the time, the process is relatively straightforward: I concern myself with the content of my proposal and submit it as a PDF based on a Word document I use a very simple template that I've developed over the years Layout comes at the end of the process: after I've developed the contentOccasionally, I'm asked to tender for large projects, and these frequently involve working...

Which way the strip? Following on-screen payment instructions

I find that most payment systems require me to stop, concentrate, and think No two machines seem to work in quite the same way, so I need to focus on which button to use to select the right account, which way to insert my card, and when to enter my PINWhen I borrowed a DVD from a machine this week, I had great trouble figuring out which way to swipe my card It was yet another reminder that we don't really have a satisfactory way of pictorially representing the card's orientationThe machine made...

Paying bills: tiny type & too much choice

Bills seem to be becoming more crowded as we're offered ever-increasing options for paying For me, the combination of too much information and tiny type causes mistakesLast night I paid my phone bill I'm offered 7 ways to pay: direct debit, credit card by phone, cheque by post, in person in the company's shop, BPay by phone, BPay online, and the post office These options are listed along the bottom of the bill, with instructions for each I'm not sure what the type size is, but it's tiny By...