Clutter, again

Obviously, when your seminar is called "Break Through the Clutter", you're going to spend some time learning about what clutter is and how to break through it with your message. So, "clutter" will be discussed here again.

In addition to all of the advertising messages, voice-mails and E-mails, meetings and more that clutter up today's world, people are talking about themselves now more than ever before. With texts, tweets, blogs, and social network pages, people are sending so many messages about their likes, dislikes, hobbies and interests that you have to wonder if anyone is actually receiving those messages. Or, whether it even matters to the "senders" that their messages are heard. The act of sending them seems to be the goal rather than making certain that someone hears them.

An Internet expert described it as people wanting to be the stars of their own reality shows. They get attention. They think people are interested in when they are brushing their teeth, or just had a cup of coffee.

With so many being so interested in talking about themselves, they don't have a lot of time for you and your message, regardless of how important it may be. And that is the environment in which your messages are being heard and read today. That is the "clutter" your message must break through to make an impact.

The key is to make your message different from all of those other messages that are centered on the sender, to focus your message on your receiver. And that's what you learn how to do in your own "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar. It is simple, but it isn't always easy.

Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

Clutter

Part of your "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar includes a definition and description of the "clutter" of everyday life - the interference your message has to deal with, compete with, and break through in order for you to actually be heard. Thanks to text messages, tweets, Facebook postings and more, the level of clutter is higher than ever before. And, it seems to grow every day.

Your message has to be special in order to break through all of this clutter and that's what you learn to do in your "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar - how to make your message special, how to frame it in a new way to make it more effective.

Donnie Deutsch, the advertising and business guru, summed it up like this - "...give people new information or entertain them - or else you're in trouble." It's that simple. You and your message have to fight to be heard today above all of the noise that is a part of everyday life.

Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

Patience is a virtue

After three years of contact back and forth, it's wonderful to get the chance to speak to the Athletic Equipment Managers this summer. This will be a lot of fun for all of us, and we'll be able to address the unique communication challenges they face everyday. Can't wait.

Call or E-mail today to schedule a "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

A resolution?

Make it New Year's resolution that you will do your best to communicate more effectively in 2010. Improved communication skills will help your career, your home life, and make you more successful in all of the other things you do everyday.

A great way to improve your communication skills, and the skills of those you deal with regularly, is to schedule a "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business. Or, pick up a "Break Through the Clutter" seminar CD to listen to and learn from while driving.

It's a brand-new year, filled with many wonderful and exciting opportunities and challenges. And you will be best equipped to meet and beat them all if you become a more effective communicator.

Call or E-mail today, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

The first thing I say...

A woman scheduling a "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for her group said that it had become an inside joke at her office's department head meetings that when they went around the room to find out what everyone had to say, the first thing she would say during her turn was, "We need to communicate better." Everybody in the room knew she would say it, and most said it along with her.

She said that people in her field really didn't communicate well and that's why she was scheduling a seminar for her trade association's convention. Sadly, people in most fields don't communicate well. The problem is this, if you'll pardon an indelicate but apt analogy - Communication is like sex, in this regard. Just about anybody can do it, and just about everybody thinks they're pretty good at it.

It's great that this woman realized that her office had communication problems and that people in her field had communication problems. What's even better is that she was willing to do something about it.

Call or E-mail today to schedule a "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your business or group, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

Redundant, or repeating yourself?

A radio commercial for a weight loss program encouraged listeners to "make today the start of a new beginning".

This is a fun line in so many ways - a beginning is new, or else it would be a continuation; a start is a beginning, not a middle, and a beginning is a start, not a finish.

Redundancies aside, it's a great example of how people can "clutter up" their own messages. Gotten a phone message that starts with the classic, "Sorry I haven't called before this, I've been meaning to call, but things have been really hectic lately and it seemed like every time I was going to call, something else came up and I couldn't. Then, when I'd remember to call, it was too late, so...I'm calling now to ..." and then ends with "Beep"? They used up all of their recording time.

Avoid creating interference for your own messages and making it harder for them to "Break Through the Clutter" of everyday of life to actually reach people in today's world. Proofreading, editing, practicing, and striving for Zero Defects are all ways you give your messages their best chance to "Break Through the Clutter".

In your own "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar you'll learn how to frame your messages for effectiveness and how to avoid the pitfalls that can clutter up your own communication.

Call or E-mail today to schedule a seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, or bkthrucomm@aol.com. It'll be the dawning of the first beginning of the new day of you starting to communicate much more effectively. Honest.

"When feeling superfluous, leave."

We've been on a roll in the last few months finding ineffective wording on signs. This was in the blood center, in the area where donors get their juice and cookies.

"Please remain at the Revitalization station as long as you feel necessary."

When you start feeling superfluous, extraneous, or even unappreciated, you can leave.

Your reaction to these signs discussed in the last couple of months is a natural one, it's to laugh or snicker. The point is, you don't want anyone laughing or snickering at you.

Proofread your written messages, use spell check, have others proof your work, read your written messages out loud to yourself to make certain that they say exactly what you intend them to say, and check how your message actually looks on paper. Make it easy for your receivers to understand what the heck you're talking about, and you'll have a better chance to "Break Through the Clutter" of everyday life and make an impact with your messages.

Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, or bkthrucomm@aol.com.