Let’s be clear – A call to action
You may know that this is one of my favourite phrases. It’s even in our brand video.
Let’s. BE. Clear. I’ll break it down:
Let’s – not you or I but everyone involved.
Be – not simply speak louder or more slowly but act as if clarity is our reason for existence.
Clear – open, transparent and easily understood.
Here’s why making a commitment to being clear is brilliant. It’s more than good manners, etiquette or polite meeting behaviour. Although, it’s all of these things too.
It stops confusion and prevents us getting over complicated. It helps create shared expectation so everyone knows who’s doing what. It helps us be more open and transparent, which builds trust. And it creates better teamwork because there are less misunderstandings.
Being unclear is never deliberate. No one sets out to make things more complex. But we’ve all done it. Perhaps we were rushing so didn’t take the time to explain. We forgot, or didn’t realise everyone wasn’t fluent in our language (this includes technical terms and jargon). Maybe we hadn’t fully understood but didn’t want to ask questions so couldn’t pass knowledge on. Or perhaps we were so excited about our idea, we forgot to check if everyone shared our vision.
Back to being clear. There’s a reason I love saying it. It means I have to do it. And as a brand strategist, a big part of my job is helping people build and deliver brands that provide much needed clarity for businesses, organisations, staff and consumers.
How can we be clear?
In my experience this means:
- Listening
- Asking people what they’ve understood from our words
- Avoiding buzzwords, acronyms and jargon
- Being concise
- Using real world examples, not just relying on theory
And making sure we view things through the eyes of our audience – rather than solely focusing on what we want to say.
So let’s be clear. It’s not just a saying; it’s my call to action. Because it’s what brilliant brands do. And it genuinely makes life a bit easier for everyone.
