The Way to Make Sense to Others – Coaching for Leaders

Tom Henschel: The Look & Sound of Leadership

Tom Henschel of Essential Communications grooms senior leaders and executive teams. An internationally recognized expert in the field of workplace communications and self-presentation, he has helped thousands of leaders achieve excellence through his work as an executive coach and his top-rated podcast, The Look & Sound of Leadership.

In this episode Tom and I discuss the common challenge of both making sense to others and making sense of what others say to you. Tom invites us to follow a four step approach of sorting and labeling so that it’s easier for listeners to follow our thinking. Finally, we explore some of the common missteps in communicating with more clarity.

Key Points

The why behind making sense: it’s better for both the sender and the receiver.
There are four key parts to the structure of making sense to others:

Create a headline
Sort into folders
Label each folder
Transition with precision

Tom shared an example of two different ways to communicate a message about presentation skills, one without sorting and labeling, and one with it.
Common mistakes in making sense include the espoused number of items not matching the number of actual items, explaining the folders first before setting the stage, and not transitioning well.