IN OTHER WORDS

3 Words You Need to Avoid

When coaching athletes, the rule is always say what you mean. For example in baseball, if a coach offers a strategy to his pitcher about the next batter, which scenario is better understood?

1. “This guy is a power hitter so keep the ball high and tight or low and away. Don’t throw down the middle or give him any fastballs. Don’t be afraid of him, just don’t give him anything good to hit.” or,

2. “Throw curveballs low and away.”

You probably agree that the second statement is exactly what you want to hear if you are that pitcher. The instructions are clear.

In the first scenario, you probably heard those three little words that are so often used in conversations, “In other words”? If you need to explain what you just said by using different terms, you just lost your “audience” and their minds are already off to another venue!

A good coach knows that you must give concise instructions on the first pass and not long winded explanations. A good trick to use is to role play your thoughts in your mind prior to the conversation. What do you anticipate the person’s response will be to your instructions? Will it be the outcome you are seeking? If not, work backwards from the outcome and provide step-by-step guidelines, just like a recipe for a great dessert. Make your instructions “right” on the first attempt and eliminate vague or conflicting statements. Here’s another example that is very common when getting driving directions from someone (and yes, GPS units are making these types of instructions passé).

1. “Go to the intersection and stop. On the left there is a gas station. You’ll see an old building on the left. Straight ahead there’s a supermarket. Go right and in about a mile the road splits and on the left there’s an apartment building and on the right there’s a bank. Go straight. I’ll be waiting for you on the left side of the street about a half more mile.” or,

2. “At the first intersection turn right; continue to follow the main road for about 1.5 miles and I’ll be waiting for you on the left side of the street.”

Again the second choice is clearer than the first option. When it comes to giving instructions of any kind, “less is more.”

Sometimes the reason why people trip over their words and make instructions difficult to follow is because they may not know the subject area well enough to coach others. Other times is because they know what hey want to say but failed to either role play the conversation or write it down and study the sequence for clarity. Many times people fall victim to the 30-second sound bite mentality where they keep talking hoping to “hit” on the right words.

If you are on the receiving end of one of these “ramblers”, try to capture the essence of what you thought you heard and repeat it back to the person. If you want to support the person because you know for some reason they were in an awkward situation, tell them that you want to go and write down what was said and bring it back for a final run through before you begin. This promotes a great working relationship and does not make either side feel foolish because of a misunderstanding.

The hardest communication we do is to make our thoughts understood by others. If you catch yourself saying “In other words” you know what you said has a good chance of being misinterpreted. The strategy now would be to “call a timeout” and go write down the instructions. This will eliminate wasting time because of a misunderstanding.

One final thought: watch your use of double negatives when giving instructions. A classic is the use of “not only but.” Again if you have more than one instruction, present them as a list and forget the cutesy stuff like not only but.

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You have heard the old phrase “put your money to work.” Saving your money in an option like a mutual fund provides you with dividends and capital gains that can rapidly increase your savings. Even a conservative portfolio of stocks, bonds and funds will significantly outperform a typical savings account every year.

According to the Federal Reserve, about 50 percent of US families own stock. Among the wealthiest 10 percent of the US population, 91 percent of families held stock with a median value of nearly $200 thousand. Among those at the bottom 20 percent of income, 12 percent of US families owned stock with a median value of less than $7500.

If you want to be wealthy, you need to follow the saving habits of wealthy people! A credit card will never offer long-term financial security.

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