Do you struggle to get your message across at work? Are your explanations not being understood? Does your boss, or other leaders, say you need to learn to speak their language?
If yes, the "Get Your Message Across" course will help. In it, you'll learn simple frameworks for communicating in a way that everyone will understand. No matter what the topic is.
My name is Chris and I’m a communication skills author and instructor. I’ve taught at international business schools and trained people in organisations like NATO and Google. The methods in this course are regularly described as some of the most practical and game-changing communication methods the participants have ever seen.
In this course you'll learn a 5-part framework you can use in almost any communication situation at work. I'll show you how to work out the communication style that works best for your audience and gets your message across.
The course is split into small, easy to follow parts. Each short video provides a specific framework or technique that will improve the structure and clarity your communication. The video lessons are supported by quick activities to help you apply what you learn and develop the methods to fit your personal style.
You'll discover how to create relevant messages, simplify complex ideas, and communicate them in a way that is jargon-free.
By using what you learn you'll no longer suffer the frustration of other teams not understanding you. Say goodbye to the fear of presentation to senior leaders and have confidence your messages are understood.
The result is anything you say will be understood by any audience.
Introduction
Overview of the 5-part framework for this course
FREE PREVIEWQuick Quiz
Section 1 introduction
It's all about the audience
Three important audience characteristics
Characteristic 1 - Perspective
Characteristic 2 - Expertise
Characteristic 3 - Position in the organisation
How to assess an audience
ACTIVITY - Assess your audience
What to do with mixed audiences
TEST - Section 1 - Understanding the audience
Section 2 introduction
What makes a message relevant?
Showing impact with Goals and Objectives
Showing impact with Effort
Showing impact with Outcomes
How impact changes when you include Timeframes
Improve the relevance by using their perspective
ACTIVITY - Effort and outcome priorities
TEST – Section 2 - What makes a message relevant
Section 3 introduction
Why messages must be relatable
How to make relatable messages
ACTIVITY - Create a relatable description of your work
TEST - Section 3 - Relatable messages
Section 4 introduction
Why we need to give simple messages
Relevant and relatable messages are simple
Use summaries to simplify and cut down information
Focus on WHAT instead of HOW
Quiz 1
The Magic Box keeps unnecessary detail out of sight
The power of common words
The Grandparent test
Visual aids - how they help and hinder your message
Other tips for simple messages
Become 80 percent jargon free
Chris Fenning
See what other people say about Chris's training
“Chris has really thought about communication and how to make it run smoothly which makes him one of a rare few. When applied meaningfully his insights have the ability to save time and improve the outcomes of our business conversations. This helps make the boat go faster”
Jonathan, CEO - JKW Coaching
“That was a really excellent training session. I’ve sat through my fair share of dull communication training, and this was anything but! I admire Chris’ presence and ability to maintain a connection with the audience online. Very impressive!”
Karen, Sr. Director, Customer Success, HighRoad
“The concepts that Chris simply outlines and the exercises to begin to put them into practice are a missing piece in organisational behaviour and communication. All organisations in all sectors would be better off for putting this into practice. It has certainly improved my own communication skills in a short space of time”
Alan H. - Trainer - The Knowledge Academy
The lessons are between 5 and 15 minutes long and the total video duration is 4 hours. The activities take additional time so you should expect to spend 6 hours in total. The videos are self-paced and you can complete them at your own pace.
YES! That’s one of primary goals of this course, to help you communicate clearly with any audience - especially people outside your own team. When you use the methods in this course, you will improve the way you communicate with someone outside your team. You'll understand what approach will help them understand and the type of information to include to make sure you get their attention and help them see why your message is important. When you use these methods your messages will be relevant, relatable, simple, and jargon free. This course helps when communicating with any audience - Internal, external, executives, people higher or lower in your organisation, and more. The methods you learn in this course are applicable to any situation where you want people to understand what you are saying, recognise the importance of your message, and quickly understand without the need for detailed explanations.
Yes it does. Executives and senior leaders appreciate well-structured communication that focused on topics relevant to their goals and objectives. The frameworks in this course show you how to make any message relevant to any audience. The methods you'll learn show how to make the impact of your message clear and how to relate it to the specific goals and outcomes the executives care about. Executives and senior leaders will appreciate the clear way you structure messages and are likely to be impressed with the clarity of your communication. If you've ever been told you need to be "more strategic" or "Learn to speak their language" you will learn those skills in this course.
Absolutely yes! The methods in this course are a step by step process to create a message that is suited to your audience. If you need to talk about a technical topic to a non-technical audience the methods in this course will show you how. There are simple scripts to help build an understandable message. The course includes 10+ methods to simplify a message and examples that are specifically designed to show how to explain incredibly complex and technical ideas to non-technical audiences.
No - the content of the course is designed to give you tools you can use right away. You can use the methods in each section as soon as you have finished watching the videos. The more of the course you complete the more benefit you'll get, but you can start using what you learn long before completing all 4 hours of lessons.