It has always mattered
I remember once
asking to go on an assertiveness course; those courses exist for a reason, my
manager scoffed. He said, “Akin, anyone but you needs an assertiveness course.”
Whilst I seemed to doubt myself, it appeared there was no doubt that I was an
effective communicator.
In my engineering
class, many of my classmates did not pay heed to the need to study English, which was a necessary elective. Obviously, we had to run the gauntlet of English
lecturers who came to show off their loquacious vocabulary, communicating nothing
but providing the entertainment of malapropism and meaningless sesquipedalianism
of words strung together without grammatical structure or purpose.
Put it all in
My view was that,
regardless of what profession you were in, it was essential that you could
convey your ideas in your chosen language of expression with clarity to
persuade and to convince. Now, when to comes to written communication, I like to
think I am better equipped to get my point across, the intent, the context,
the tone, the appeal to their humanity, the veiled insult politely delivered as
a slow-working poison that causes little offence whilst eliciting praise, maybe
an English putdown can find a showing too.
Concision is not my
strongest point, and brevity is probably only needed for telegrams; clarity in
prose is what matters more to me, so that by the time the reader is done, I am both
comprehended and understood with responses appropriate to my requirements.
That it might tend to
flourish or the flowery is a temptation I have too often yielded to, yet as a
copy editor and proofreader of other material, I would be more conservative, active,
and direct.
Then a grubby email
I guess I hate
writing emails that have to do with contractual negotiations; they can be
emotional and easily be grubby when professional persuasion is required. In
such cases, it must be in the view of a sensible seamstress, like a good skirt,
long enough to cover the detail, yet short enough to keep the interest and
close the matter.
Once a client wrote
to demand payment on the premise that I had been overpaid, by the time I put
together the whole chain of evidence that suggested otherwise, what I received
was a curt thank you in response and nothing more. Too recently, I noticed an
error in my remuneration, not too significant, but on a matter of principle, we
had an agreement that appeared to be irregularly and unilaterally recast as
something else.
Now, I say
At first, I thought it
was an error at the payment processing company; their prompt and useful
response suggested it was further up the chain. Grudgingly, I made the case for
respecting gentlemen's agreements and signed contracts that had no indication of
the variation of terms, then closed with the deployment of the polite 3rd
person singular. “As such, one is owed moneys due.”
The purposeful switch
from the apparently casual and familiar to the stuffily formal was for maximum
effect. If as a person well known to me, you need to be addressed with titles
and formality, you can be sure we are on the business end of issues that need
to be addressed with alacrity, importance, and seriousness.
What mattered was that my
intervention was effective and what I have requested will be granted; the slight
on their part might suggest the need for an apology, not grovelling, just the
acceptance of an administrative error on their part that would be made right is
enough. Effective communication matters always, and if you are not that good at
it, get the training to represent and express yourself better than anyone can.
