How to talk so people actually listen to youCommunication · 4 minute readBeing right is not the same as being heard. Short sentences, the number first and the ask at the end will do more for you than a bigger vocabulary.People lose arguments they should have won, not because they were wrong, but because nobody could follow them. Communication is a skill, and it is learnable.Lead with the pointSay what you want in the first sentence, then explain why. People who lead with the conclusion get answered. People who build up to it get interrupted.The three-line email

Line one: what you want.

Line two: the one fact that justifies it.

Line three: what happens next, and by when.

Anything longer than that gets skimmed, and skimmed messages do not get answered.Say the numberVague requests get vague answers. 'Can you help with the project' gets a maybe. 'Can you give me two hours on Thursday to check the figures' gets a yes or a no, and both of those are useful.When you are the youngest person in the roomYou will get talked over. Do not take it personally and do not get louder. Wait, then say your point again in fewer words. Being clear twice is more powerful than being forceful once.Write down what you want to say before you say it. If it takes more than three lines to write, it will not land when you speak it either.More free articles about money, work and business are at The Next Generation Blog.

Let's Play Business — LPB Deepcar Learning Centre, Deepcar, Sheffield. Contact: anna@letsplaybusiness.co.uk