Supercommunicator: Explaining the Complicated So Anyone Can Understand

by Frank J. Pietrucha Narrated by Sean Pratt

Overview

In our increasingly complicated and data-driven world, many new developments are so complex that only experts comprehend their nuances. But what they don't grasp is how to tell the world about them. Communicating technical content to nontechnical listeners has fast become a critical 21st-century skill. Explaining what you do and why it's important drives funding, policy decisions, media exposure, public awareness, and customer adoption. This groundbreaking guide will help anyone to deliver clear, persuasive messages that win hearts, minds, and budgets. Supercommunicator explains how to: ? Distill details and data into big ideas ? Deliver meaning to audiences ? Use storytelling to captivate and educate ? Humanize content to make complicated ideas more tangible ? Layer harder ideas on top of easier ideas ? Strip away complex language, jargon, and acronyms ? Use analogies to explain unfamiliar areas ? Master new digital modes of expression ? And more Enhanced with a wealth of examples--from how the National Academy of Sciences used audience research to improve the way evolution is taught, to how NASA incorporated cutting-edge tools to visualize issues in climatology--this one-of-a-kind audiobook reveals how to make the complex comprehensible, and the dry deeply compelling.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"...no-nonsense advice is for everybody who has ever had to articulate a clear and easy-to-understand message which means pretty much all of us." —Hill Rag

“…an excellent book for a wide range of library patrons since effective communication is an imperative in our digital age.” —Booklist

"Packed with solid advice, Supercommunicator is an excellent guide to help you improve and enchance your writing and communications skills." —Success magazine

“…written in clear, uncomplicated sentences. It focuses on helping communication professionals—or anyone who communicates on the job—hone their message for maximum impact.” —Bloomberg Businessweek

"Pietrucha offers a big-picture view of the quickly evolving communication landscape packed with practical advice." —Smart Supervision

"Everyone who needs to articulate a complex concept or turn complicated subject matter into easy to understand language will benefit from reading this book." —PM World Journal

"This guide will help anyone to deliver clear, persuasive messages that win hearts, minds and budgets." —Work Style magazine

"Pietrucha practises what he preaches, offering readers short, digestible chunks of information and advice in a conversational tone...a great primer or refresher..." —Iva Cheung Blog

“Supercommunicator provides guidance and hope for leaders everywhere.” —strategy + business

“…provides all of us who have to communicate (which is all of us) with the tools we need to be better communicators…” —PCB007.COM

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171358815
Publisher:	Ascent Audio
Publication date:	05/01/2014
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

PART I: HOW DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IS CHANGING COMMUNICATION

Words, pictures, graphics, and symbols—the very shape of content—

is evolving before our eyes. The written word isn’t going away a but it is being transformed. The days of straight running text on paper as our principal means of expressing ideas and delivering infor-mation are numbered as new digital tools change our communication landscape. For some, this transformation is liberating . . . for others a it’s terrorizing.

For communicators—anyone with information or ideas to share—

today is a period of transition. We can now show audiences insights that previously could only be explained with words. Tools born of the

Internet allow us to manipulate data into forms that can bring us deeper understanding. The ease of multimedia grants even the tech-nologically challenged the power to communicate with video, audio, and images to deliver a fuller communication experience. All good stuff a but these changes aren’t likely to come easily after centuries of thinking print. Flipping the switch from print to digital requires effort on our part.

If you communicate, take note: Failure to understand new media forms and how they impact the way we write, speak, and think could leave you at a disadvantage. Conversely, embracing new digital tools—

and the philosophy that drives them—can help you thrive in our hyperconnected world.

THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION CHANGES EVERYTHING IN COMMUNICATIONS.

We can no longer think in terms of paper documents as our end product. The Internet is increasingly pushing more dynamic modes of communication—not just functioning as a mechanism to deliver pdf files. Multimedia engages users in a way print cannot—

offering them greater insights.

THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION CHANGES NOTHING IN COMMUNICATIONS.

Solid, time-tested communication skills are still an imperative.

“Old school” ways to develop content are, and will always be, essential to information sharing.

THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION CHANGES EVERYTHING IN COMMUNICATIONS, YET NOTHING AT ALL.

Communications is about delivering meaning. Multimedia can help us grab someone’s attention. It can also enable us to deliver a more powerful learning experience by “showing” rather than “telling.”

But we can’t depend on killer applications alone to express thoughts and share information. There has to be substance behind the style to breathe new life into content. Technology can enhance our under-standing of content, but there must be solid ground beneath the gadgets and gizmos.

You may already know about some of the technologies described in the coming pages, but read with an open mind. The introductory chapters aren’t so much about new tools as they’re about developing the frame-of-mind to seamlessly incorporate new devices into your communication efforts. We’ve been busy adopting new communication tools, but have we taken the time to think about how they can best serve us?

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