The Hindu Business Line : The ten rules of effective communication

SMS to communicate over mobiles, SRK to mean Shah Rukh Khan, FedEx for Federal Express, KFC for Kentucky Fried Chicken, and smileys on e-mail. "Good things really do come in small packages - and from small words," explains Dr Frank Luntz in Words That Work (www.landmarkonthenet.com) . Rule one in successful communication, therefore, is simplicity, he says.

The book is about `narrowing the gap between what you intend to convey and what your audiences actually interpret'. It's not enough to be correct or reasonable or even brilliant, reminds Luntz. "Take the imaginative leap of stuffing yourself right into your listener's shoes."

Rule two is brevity, that is, short sentences. "Small beats large, short beats long, and plain beats complex. And sometimes a visual beats them all."

When asked for an essay on the topic `What's wrong with the world?' the prolific British writer G.K. Chesterton is said to have written: "Dear Sirs: I am. Sincerely yours, G.K. Chesterton." This is among the many examples that fill the book.

The third rule is credibility. "If your words lack sincerity, if they contradict accepted facts, circumstances, or perceptions, they will lack impact." Which explains why commercials that scream, `New and improved' or `the best just got better', fall flat on the ears of consumers. How to establish credibility? "Tell people who you are or what you do. Then be that person and do what you have said you would do. And finally, remind people that you are what in fact you say you are," advises Luntz.

Next rule, consistency. "Good language is like the Energizer Bunny. It keeps going... and going... and going." Moral of the analogy: repetition. "Finding a good message and then sticking with it takes extraordinary discipline, but it pays off tenfold in the end." Only, you need to `sound as fresh and vital to your audiences as it did to your own ears the first time you said it'.

In apparent contrast is rule five; it says, novelty. `Offer something new', but how? "In plain English, words that work often involve a new definition of an old idea."

Give people `a brand-new take on an old idea,' advises Luntz. Rule six, Sound and texture matter. To achieve this, you can use `a string of words that have the same first letter, the same sound, or the same syllabic cadence' rather than `a random collection of words'.

Seventh rule is to speak aspirationally. A rule that politicians may practise better than corporate captains do, by personalising and humanising the message `to trigger an emotional remembrance'.

Visualise, says rule eight; paint, therefore, a vivid picture, as in the phrase, `melts in your mouth'.

Ask questions, suggests nine, because `the rhetorical question remains one of the most powerful but underutilised communication tools'.

Finally, rule 10 is about providing context and explaining relevance. Give the `why' of your message before you tell them the `therefore' and the `so that', insists Luntz. Worth spending a few leisurely hours to discover the `words that work'.

SayCheek@TheHindu.co.in