Workplace Multiplier by Tola Akinsulire

April 15, 2025

Welcome to the Workplace Multiplier newsletter. Published Monday to Friday, equipping you to achieve your professional goals faster and without burnout or overwhelm by leveraging The Triple Win Method.

Beware these 2 communication villains (they're killing your influence)

Howdy ,

Do you know something about the movies we love the most?

There is always a huge conflict that needs to be resolved. And we stay on the edge waiting for that conflict to be sorted out.

I think the way I wrote it is more complicated.

The simple way to explain it is that there is a bad guy and a good guy.

Yep...it works better when the conflict is embodied in persons. We want the good guys to take out the bad guys.

Just as it works in movies, it's the same way it works with communication.

Communication works best when you have villains to batter through.

Every time I write, I am always battling two villains.

The first bad guy is personal to me. It's the villain I fight every time I write.

It could be an office email or a post like this.

I have to fight the urge that wants to write or say everything I know about something or an issue.

Why?

Trying to say everything I know is a sure way to overwhelm or confuse whoever is going to listen to me or read what I write.

I have to say or write just enough. Enough for what?

That brings us to the second villain in battle.

My audience must read or listen to me and know the next best action they need to take.

I must write or say just enough so that my audience feels empowered to take the next best action.

When I write an email to my CEO, I don't have to tell everything about the matter. I need to write just enough for him to be able to take the next best action on the issue.

The same applies to the people I lead. And it applies to the clients I deal with - they should be able to act in their best interest after reading from me.

My writing villains

Every time I write, it could be an email, an article or even verbal communication, I battle two villains.

1. The villain of oversharing from me.
2. The villain of inaction from my audience due to confusion.

I battle the first in myself and I hope a good job so that my audience does not need to battle the second.

Let me share a recent example.

Recently, I drafted a proposal to other members of my company’s executive team about a discount promo that I wanted us to run on some of our products. In an inflationary environment, nobody likes doing discounts.

There were a lot of facts I could share to support why it was important to do this. I kept it simple – just three lines providing the reasons and impact of the promo in the email. The rest of the email was a simple table with the details of the promo I was asking for. The proposal was approved within 48 working hours instead of the usual back-and-forth emails that would have followed a typical "director's cut" version.

How to defeat these villains in your own communication

Before hitting send on any message, pause and ask yourself:

• Is this the minimum information needed for understanding?
• Is the next action crystal clear to my audience?
• If I received this message, would I know exactly what to do next?

These simple questions can cut through confusion and drive results.

I love this quote by Blaise Pascal "If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter"

The Precise Nature of…

To be precise takes time. Even office emails have to be edited and re-edited until they are just perfect for defeating these twin villains.

1.    Say or write with as few words as possible.

2.    Say or write so that your audience knows the next best action they need to take in their best interest.

Refine your communication with these pillars and you will discover little wonders in how you engage with people.

Your challenge this week

Take one important email or message you need to send and apply these principles. Cut it in half, then make sure the action step stands out clearly.

Try to notice the difference in how quickly and effectively people respond. They don't have to always say "Yes". But they have to be able to take action.

Keep practising it till you get good at it.

As always, keep winning at work and in life.

Tola Akinsulire

Your Strategic Workplace Mentor

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