how clear are you, really?

Aug 11, 2022 6:31 am

Hi


When I first moved to the UK my English was pretty good. I had been studying it for more than a decade and I was definitely at an above-average level. However, for years I was thinking in Romanian and translated everything in my head before speaking.


The moment this pattern changed was when I noticed that I started dreaming in English. At which point I had another issue: I couldn't speak Romanian without thinking in English first and then translating everything in my head. If you speak more than one language, I'm sure you know what I mean. We always have a 'reference' language that forms the basis of our linguistic performance.


Anyway, I digress. The moral of the story is that often we want to say one thing but it comes out as something completely different. A slight nuance in tone, perhaps a preposition used in the wrong way can change the entire meaning of a sentence.


I was listening to a podcast episode the other day where the speaker said: I'm a parent of two and I am tired of that. What they meant was that they were tired from that. They then went on to talk about rest and how important it is and therefore clarified the message. However, if that sentence would have been taken out of context, someone might have thought they didn't want to be a parent anymore, which was not the case.


Here's another moral of the story: clarity matters. Even if you master the language you work in, there is still room for interpretation and how others perceive your words. In fact, the power of clarity goes beyond linguistic considerations - clarity of purpose, goals, priorities and much more.


A while ago I interviewed Ann Latham on my podcast and we talked about exactly that. Ann is also known as The Queen of Clarity and she is the author of the book The Power of Clarity. She really knows her stuff on this topic and we had a very interesting conversation about the power of clarity and how coaches can use it in their own businesses as well as in their work with clients.


You can listen to the episode here or watch a video extract of our conversation where Ann talks about how we as coaches can learn to and help our clients become more productive through the power of clarity.


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If you gave the video a watch and/or the podcast a listen, I hope it was helpful. I've been enjoying the podcasting journey so far and I've got some really great episodes lined up that I cannot wait to share with you. Stay tuned 😊


Take care and speak soon,

Alisa

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