16 Strategies to Make Your Message Clearer

Brief 

Help others understand your message by keeping it simple, stating the most important points at both the beginning and the end, and providing resources and evidence to back up what you’re saying, writes Logan Hailey. “A clearly communicated message is the secret sauce to great teaching, successful marketing, and captivating speeches,” Hailey writes.

Insight

You know that frustrating feeling when you’re trying to get the point across, but you can’t figure out how to make someone understand? You need some science-backed hacks, tips, and tricks to ease the confusion.

Fortunately, the art of explanation benefits both the teacher and the learner. Research shows that explaining enhances learning by helping you put complex ideas in your own words. At the same time, you make it easier for someone else to grasp new information.

If you have trouble communicating your thoughts, ideas, or knowledge, use this step-by-step guide to explain things better.

16 Easy Steps to Explain Things Better

Great communicators are master explainers. They can take something like quantum physics or philosophy and break it into easily understandable snippets. Whether you’re giving a speech, leading a meeting, or explaining your passion to your friends, these 16 tips can help you send a well-received message:

Start with why they should care

Every great explanation needs an audience genuinely interested in what you have to say.

Use an interesting one-liner to capture someone’s attention and promise them something. Promises explain the psychology of why certain ideas are appealing. Look at the most viral TED Talks. You can see that they start with a promising title and intriguing headliner that convinces you to listen:

• Do Schools Kill Creativity? by Sir Ken Robinson
• Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are by Amy Cuddy
• How Great Leaders Inspire Action by Simon Sinek
• The Power of Vulnerability by Brene Brown