I learned recently that there are essentially two types of communication:
- Thinking out loud-that is, flying by the seat of your pants and
- Structuring your thoughts in private, having thought deeply and focused on the issues, and communicating well with your conclusions.
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, asks his executives to prepare a 6-page memo prior to meetings so they are forced to think about what they want to say. He recognises that this work is hard for the person doing the work but easy for the listener.
He contrasts this with the use of PowerPoint presentations, which he does not like, because the PowerPoint is easy for the presenter but hard for the listener.