The Clarity Factor

The Four Secrets to Being Clearly Understood

by Ray DiZazzo
Sourcebooks © 2000
107 pages

Focus Take-Aways
Leadership
• Speaking and listening effectively will bring you money and happiness.
Strategy
Sales & Marketing • Without realizing it, many executives develop poor communications habits.
Corporate Finance
Human Resources • The “Clarity Factor” involves a four-step process: focusing the message, winning
Technology
the listener’s attention, breaking down personal barriers and listening.
Production & Logistics
• Some people communicate verbally with effectiveness and clarity. Some don’t.
Small Business
Economics & Politics • To communicate clearly, you must know what you want to say before you say it.
Industries & Regions
Career Development • Make certain that your listener is willing and able to receive your message.
Personal Finance
Self Improvement
• Navigate your listener’s emotional barriers, which are known as distortion factors.
Ideas & Trends
• Open listening is the final step in communicating clearly.

• To communicate effectively, analyze every message you send before sending it.

• Clear communications save time, reduce stress and avoid unnecessary frustration.

Rating (10 is best)

Overall Applicability Innovation Style

6 6 6 7

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 Review

The Clarity Factor

Meet Gloria, harried boss, wife and mother. She’s an intelligent, competent and well-
intentioned person, so she can’t figure out why Marty, her terminally put-upon employee
resents her, why her husband Bill ignores her, or why conversations with her teenage son
Todd always turn into shouting matches. Through a series of enlightening interactions,
Gloria shows readers how seemingly hopeless relationships can be resurrected when
communications improve. Author Ray DiZazzo uses hypothetical examples to illustrate
his tips for clear communications. His narrative won’t win any literary awards, but it is
surprisingly effective at teaching readers how to communicate better. getAbstract.com
recommends his book to all managers, because your job hinges in large part on com-
municating effectively. Now is that perfectly clear?

Abstract

You Are What You Communicate

Journalists and broadcasters aren’t the only professionals in the communications busi-
ness. No matter what your profession, communication is your most important skill.
Speaking and listening effectively can bring you monetary reward and personal happi-
“Regardless of ness. Executives of large companies routinely cite communication skills as significant for
what each of us advancement. In marriages, poor communication is a major factor leading to discontent
does for a living,
we are all in the and divorce. Speaking and listening well are critical for professional and personal suc-
communication cess. Yet, few people spend time analyzing and improving their communications skills.
business.”
Without realizing it, many executives communicate poorly. To project a tough, no-non-
sense, results-oriented image, they often communicate tersely. This approach yields con-
fusion (subordinates and colleagues aren’t sure what the executive means), frustration
(misinterpretation leads to wasted effort) and bruised feelings (the executive’s commu-
nication style ignores the listeners’ points of view and emotions).
Clarity avoids frustration, reduces stress, saves time, makes communication rewarding
“How clearly we and enjoyable and produces a feeling of connection with others. This last advantage is
speak and listen especially important. We all want others to hear and understand us.
directly affects not
only the opportu-
nities that come A Simple, Four-Step Process
our way but also A verbal communication is more or less clear depending on how effectively you, as
the level of per- the speaker, state your piece. A verbal communication is a message. The speaker is the
sonal satisfaction
and happiness we sender, while the listener is the receiver. The clarity factor measures how effectively the
achieve as human speaker communicates according to these criteria:
beings.”
• Focusing the message.
• Motivating the listener to pay attention.
• Breaking through any personal barriers in the listener.
• Listening effectively.

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 With these steps, any speaker can communicate in a way that any listener can under-
stand, no matter what emotional barriers might have existed before. Subtle nuances
govern human interactions. Communication is a recipe whose ingredients include words
and body language. The clarity factor is an unnoticeable but indispensable ingredient in
creating comprehension on both sides of a communication. When this ingredient is miss-
“Proper use of ing, however, communication muddles.
verbal communi-
cation skills can
not only calm and
Step One: Bringing the Message into Focus
streamline your To communicate clearly, you must know what you want to say before you say it. You can
day-to-day life but accomplish this by:
also expand your
sensitivity to the • Thinking about the message. The sender sharpens the focus of the message by con-
subtle dynamics
that govern all templating what needs to be said and deciding exactly how to say it.
human interac- • Removing emotions. Filter out your own emotions to ensure objectivity. This
tions.” removes the possibility that you will distort your message and, thus, increases its
accuracy.
Conduct these two checks before you utter a word, in any context — whether it’s in an
e-mail, at a staff meeting, in an employee gathering or at a lunch with a client. Repeat
this exercise until it becomes an effortless habit. Objectivity is very important at this
point in the communications process. You must acknowledge your feelings about your
“Very few listeners and adapt the message accordingly.
managers have
the luxury of plan- Consider the case of Gloria, who finds that her employee, Marty, is a chronic malcontent.
ning every com- When Gloria gives Marty an order, she typically speaks like this: “Martin, I need the
ment they make.
But with a little Connor files, ASAP.” This is terse and not especially specific. With an effort to improve
practice, we can her clarity, Gloria analyzes this message. Then she rephrases it in a precise way that
all make a quick masks her negative feelings toward Marty. Here’s her second try: “Martin, I need one
analysis of our
words a habit —
figure — the bottom-line equipment depreciation total from the Connor account — as
a mindset just like soon as you have a few seconds, please.” This second, improved message saves Marty
objectivity.” time. He needs to find only one document, rather than an entire bulky file. Also, Marty
just feels better about this request, largely because the tone is less demanding and the
word “please” is present.
After contemplating her communication patterns with Marty, Gloria realizes that his
poor attitude toward her has some validity. He is always resentful of her requests, but
Gloria remembers that she felt the same way about bosses she had in the past. They
“The Clarity Factor appeared arrogant and demanding, which frustrated her because she felt that they didn’t
is about people — know what they wanted. She realizes that poor communication is the root of resent-
what our words ment.
really mean, how
we really feel when Harried managers who don’t take the time to analyze their messages beforehand can
we say them and,
most of all, our send unfocused messages like these: “Why is it you’re always late?” “I need it soon.”
intense desire to “You need to improve your productivity.” “We’ve got to cut our costs right away.” “If you
be heard and don’t improve your customer relations, we’re in trouble.”
understood as
human beings.”
Step Two: Making the Listeners Listen
Now that you’ve decided exactly what you want to say, make sure that your listeners
are willing and able to receive your message. For listeners to hear your message, they
must momentarily make you, as the speaker, their highest priority. You can magnify your
listeners’ attention in three ways:
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 • Interest — Make sure the subject of the message will interest your listeners.
• Importance — Be certain that the message is significant.
• Attention — Ask your listeners to interrupt what they are doing to pay attention.

“One hundred per- (Note that you haven’t yet delivered your message. You merely have set the stage for the
cent clarity is verbal communication.)
impossible. A
receiver will Consider one of Gloria’s interactions with her husband, Bill, who is working at his desk
always include
some of his or
at home. Gloria says, “Todd got in trouble at school again, Bill. We should discuss it.”
her own personal- Bill just grunts, barely acknowledging Gloria.
ity in interpreting
what you say.” Now, view this in the context of a message you can evaluate. All messages can be graded
in two ways: 1) On the clarity factor, or the effectiveness of the message itself, and 2)
On the “Receptivity Quotient,” or the willingness of the listener to receive the message.
In this particular communication, Gloria’s words are not wrong, in and of themselves.
They earn a clarity factor of 88%. But Bill isn’t paying attention to the message, so the
receptivity quotient is only 2%. Gloria’s immediate impression is that Bill is uncaring
“In order to speak
with clarity, the and arrogant.
person talking
must first clarify But Gloria realizes this isn’t the case — Bill does care about their son. She also recog-
his or her thoughts nizes that Bill places a high priority on work. He ignores her not out of spite but because
at the source, in
his or her own
he’s doing something that, to him, is more important. So Gloria modifies her message to
mind.” magnify the listener’s attention. She says, “Bill, please stop what you’re doing and listen
to me. We have to talk about something very important.” The clarity factor of this mes-
sage remains high, while the receptivity quotient shoots up to 92%. The difference is that
Gloria asks for Bill’s undivided attention.

Step Three: Breaking Down Emotional Obstacles

“The next step is Now that you know what you want to say and have gained your listeners’ undivided
to motivate the lis- attention, it’s time to send your message. Keep in mind, though, the obstacle of distor-
tener into giving tion. What you as the speaker mean to say isn’t necessarily what your listeners hear. To
top priority to the
speaker.”
reduce distortion, you must navigate distortion factors, including your listeners’ deep-
seated opinions, values and experiences. You can do this several ways:
Use precise words — Visual language is the opposite of vague language. Visual lan-
guage uses specific details to convey a message. For example, don’t merely say, “The
job is super.” Instead, say, “The job has great hours, high wages and lots of personal
“The Clarity Factor reward.” A speaker using vague language would say, “She’s getting really old.” But a
is a subtle, speaker using visual language would phrase the message this way: “She’s 89, weighs
essential element
only 92 pounds and sits hunched over in a wheelchair.” A speaker using vague language
that makes verbal
communication would say, “My new car is beautiful.” But a speaker using visual language would phrase
productive and the message more precisely: “My new car is a deep, shiny blue with graceful lines and
rewarding when dark leather upholstery.”
it’s at its best, cre-
ating brilliant clar-
ity of word and
Use analogies that give your listeners a frame of reference — A vague speaker would say,
thought.” “He was a tall guy.” A more powerful statement would be: “He was so tall, he could be
Magic Johnson’s body double.” The vague message of “She’s really mad” is more color-
ful when you say, “She’s so mad she threw the telephone at the wall.” Or a vague speaker
might say, “He’s very smart.” A metaphor would be more effective: “He’s a 27-year-old
Albert Einstein.”

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 Ask if your listeners understand your message.
Revise the message if the listeners don’t understand.

“Once the person Gloria has a strained relationship with her teenage son, Todd. Their attempts at commu-
speaking has the nication invariably end in confrontation. Consider the following example of a message
listener’s attention, from Gloria to Todd: “When are you going to quit being so negative and destructive, and
the message can
be sent. The start listening to me?” This message is bound for a dismal receptivity quotient. To Todd,
object is to assure as the listener, the words are judgmental and accusatory, implying that he is “negative”
that it gets through and “destructive.” Gloria rethinks her message and tries an alternative: “Todd, you need
as closely as pos-
sible to the way to stop thinking about everything else and listen to what I have to say. It’s more impor-
the speaker has tant than you realize.” This message rates a receptivity quotient of 73%, largely because
visualized it.” it removes the emotion and blame from a simple request to conduct a conversation.

Step Four: Listening with Clarity

This step requires you to consider a role reversal, because as the speaker you must make
sure that you remove the emotional barriers you have about your message and interpret
the message as you intended. The keys to listening effectively are:
“The idea is to
learn to penetrate • Empathy — Your listeners must put themselves in your shoes.
or overcome barri- • Imagination — Try to visualize what you wish to communicate.
ers in other people
— or in yourself
if you’re receiving
When Gloria asks Todd to listen to her, he asks her to listen to him in the same way.
the message.” She’s defensive at first, but then realizes that the only way to repair their relationship is
to listen to her son without distorting his message through her own opinions, values and
experiences.
Open listening proves contagious. After Gloria listens openly to Todd, he listens to her
concerns. Their pattern of unpleasant and ineffective communications had prevented
either one of them from listening to the other without barriers, so both had deep-seated
negative feelings. The result of listening with empathy is that Gloria and Todd could
come to view each other positively again, which was certainly a big relief to Bill.

About The Author

Ray DiZazzo is an author, consultant, columnist and speaker. The Clarity Factor is his
seventh book. He has taught communications skills to employees of GTE and J.D. Power
and Associates and to the executive staff of the Kent City Council in England. DiZazzo
lives in Southern California.

Buzz-Words
Clarity factor / Distortion / Emotional barriers / Empathy / Message / Objectivity /
Receiver / Receptivity quotient / Sender / Visual language

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