Matt Abrahams

I can say, that point you just made about X, really important.

We're going to talk about that next on the agenda.

I think paraphrasing is the most polite way to get control back, be it from an interrupter or somebody who's just talking too much.

It can feel uncomfortable to interrupt somebody with a paraphrase, but if you're in front of a room of people or a meeting, not doing it is actually more rude to the other people than it is being rude to the person who spoke.

So paraphrasing, I think, gets you out of those circumstances.

Absolutely.

Let me give you a few top things.

First and foremost, you have to think about who is the audience I'm speaking to?

What's important and relevant to them related to the topic I want to speak on?

All of us, when we communicate, suffer from the curse of knowledge and the curse of passion.

We know a lot about what we're saying and we care a lot about it.

And because of that, we can make assumptions, start too deep, et cetera.

First, think about your audience relative to your topic.

That's number one.

Number two, come up with a clear goal.

Many of us take our audience on a journey of our discovery of what we want to say as we're saying it.

We don't have a clear path.

To me, a goal has three parts.

Information, emotion, and action.

What do I want them to know?