Dianna Booher

Are you hearing a lot of noise lately?   Noise in Congress?  Noise from the media?  Noise from your customers?  Noise in meetings?  Noise in presentations? Noise in your in-box?<br />
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Words, actions, visuals, body language--these are forms of noise to our senses, and noise communicates. While noise can delight at the football game, it can also irritate when we're trying to finish a spreadsheet or get a customer proposal out the door in the next half hour.<br />
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For a moment, expand your definition of "noise" to mean anything that detracts or breaks your concentration on a key message.<br />
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Consider how "noise" annoys…<br />
•       on slides containing words, graphics, or data extraneous to the key message<br />
•       in meetings when people tell irrelevant war stories, add repetitious statements, or back-track on the process<br />
•       during panel discussions when members make "me-too" statements, adding nothing new<br />
•       with tweets that say nothing but "here I am"<br />
•       in emails that sound like stream-of-consciousness prose<br />
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On the other hand, consider the cause for a pause. Emptiness is something. A valuable something. I'm spending a lot of time lately in my executive coaching sessions telling clients to reduce the noise--in their slide designs, in content development for speeches, in duplicate "information" they send to the field. Noise, noise, noise. People tune out for relief.<br />
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Reflect on the value of<br />
•       a pause in a speech<br />
•       a slide with one simple photo that "says it all"<br />
•       the blank lines between paragraphs and headings in a book<br />
•       the break between sessions in a technical conference<br />
•       the silent nod after someone has listened intently to what you've said<br />
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In the chaos of life and work, we all could use a little less noise in our communications.<br />
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