The First Minute: How to Start Conversations That Get Results (Business Communication Skills Books Book 1)

by Chris Fenning

You must prepare your audience to receive your message before you deliver it. People are busy, so you need to get to the point quickly. The most effective work conversations focus on actions and solutions, not on problems.

Creating the most effective first minute of any work conversation is a two-step process. Step 1: Frame the conversation in fifteen seconds or less. Framing provides context, makes your intentions clear, and gives a clear headline. Step 2: Create a structured summary of the entire message you need to deliver. State the goal and define the problem that stands between you and achieving that goal. Then focus the conversation on the solution.

Finally, you’ll discover the three components required of a structured summary: 1) the goal you are trying to achieve, 2) the problem stopping you from reaching that goal, and 3) the solution to the problem. These three things will enable you to summarize any topic, no matter how complex.

Research shows that poor first impressions can be reversed by a consistent strong performance. It takes eight good impressions to overturn a bad one.4

It became clear that many work conversations started with the following issues. Failing to provide context for the message. This happens when the audience doesn’t know what the topic is about. Not having a clear purpose for the message. This happens when the audience doesn’t know why they are receiving the information. Not getting to the point fast enough. The speaker shares a lot of information and takes too long to get to the critical part of his or her message. Mixing up two or more topics in the same conversation. The speaker has two or more topics to discuss, but it isn’t clear what they are.

Context: This is the topic you want to talk about. Of all the topics in the world, this is the one you will talk about now. Intent: What you want the audience to do with the information you are about to share. Key message: The most important part of the overall message you are about to deliver (the headline).

Framing should take no more than three sentences and be delivered in less than fifteen seconds. In the example above,

These may seem abrupt, but the point isn’t to convey your entire message in fifteen seconds. The point is to let your audience know what you are going to talk about, so they aren’t guessing for the first few minutes of the conversation. If the first lines of your message provide context, intent, and a key message, you will have clearer conversations every time.

Are there situations where context isn’t needed at the start of a work conversation? No. Context is always needed when starting a new conversation at work.

Never assume the other person knows what you are talking about.

“Tell me what you want, what you really, really want.” – The Spice Girls

Whenever we receive information, it takes our brains a few moments to work out what to do with it.

The longer it takes to state the purpose of your message, the greater the chance your audience will form their opinion of your intent. The

This, in turn, defines how the information is stored in our brains. If a speaker takes more than twenty seconds to clarify his or her intent, our brains stop processing the first thing the person said and try to process the most recent twenty seconds of information.

longer it takes for the audience to understand the purpose of the message, the more likely they are to guess. This means the audience is not processing the information in the way you want or need them to. Worse than that, when the audience doesn’t know what to do with information, their brains don’t retain it as easily and may label it as unimportant. By clarifying your intent in the first few lines of your message, you give your audience the key to correctly interpreting and reacting to the information.

Category of Intention Examples Needing help/advice/input Can you help me? We need your input. I need some advice. Can you explain something? Requesting action Can you provide an update on ABC? Can you send the contract to Zoe? Wanting a decision We need a decision on XYZ. Letting someone know something is about to happen, so they are not surprised Heads up, something is about to happen on ABC. You need to know this before you talk to the client. Providing information/input the other person asked for previously Here’s the report you asked for. Here’s the information you requested.

“Hi, can I talk to you about TechCorp? It’s not urgent, but I thought you might find it funny.”

communicate. If you’ve ever found yourself listening to someone and wondering, “Why are they telling me this?” it may be because they hadn’t made their intent clear, but it could also be because they haven’t given you the key message early enough. Delivering critical information early in your communication is an important part of being a good communicator. The following example will show you what I mean.

“Why are you telling me this?” “Is there something you need me to do?” “I’m not sure what to do with that information.” “So what?”

Example #1 “I was talking to Anne and she told me things are going well with the Davison Group. They have some concerns about our ability to handle their newest products. It’s nothing we can’t work out together, and they agreed to continue. Apparently, they liked our presentation and would like to sign a deal for $50 million. Ethan is sending over the paperwork now, and it’ll all be done by the end of the day.” In this example, the key message was closing the deal with a big new client. All the events and information leading up to that were less important and buried the good news. The most important piece of information in the update is the signing of a high-value client. This should be stated first, not hidden toward the end. Key message = We are closing the Davison Group today.

Example #2 “We were working on the system enhancements the sales team asked for last month. We released a patch last night to test the new database connections, but something didn’t work. Now the sales team can’t use the system. It might be a problem because we think it will take some time to fix, maybe a week.” In this example, the key message is the loss of the sales system for a week. Everything else is background detail about the how and the why of the situation. The audience may ask questions about how this happened, but first, they need to know the “So what?” Key message = The sales system is down, and it will take up to a week to fix.

One more example. It shows the conversation rollercoaster caused by not having a clear key message. “My aunt fell down and broke her arm. She’s OK, and my brother is going to stay with her for a few weeks to help her around the house. He’s able to do that because he works from home, so he can keep working while at her house. The thing is, with him away, his wife can’t leave the house easily because they only have one car. It’s also half term next week. My brother’s wife usually looks after my daughter during the day during the holidays, so I can work. So, you see, my sister-in-law isn’t able to pick up my daughter from school, and I have no one to look after her. On top of that, my wife is away with her work too. I’ve already delivered most of the work on the current project, and I’ve talked to Emma, who said she can handle everything else. So, can I take next week off work?” Wow, that’s quite a situation. You may have worked out what was happening by about halfway through, but it wasn’t confirmed until the last line. The entire message could be summarized as “Can I please take next week off work?” Then the background detail could be given. Key message = Can I please take next week off work?

Putting It All Together “Tell me what you are talking about. Tell me why you are talking about it. And please, please, please, get to the point.” — Annonymous

Name the topic + Describe the intent + Get to the point Let’s take a look at some examples. Example #1 Context: I’m working on the Jefferson account. Intent: I’ve got good news. Key message: We just got them as a new client. Example #2 Context: I read the report you sent me. Intent: Can you explain something? Key message: I want to understand the change in timeline. Example #3 Context: I reviewed the new IT policy. Intent: I need you to take action. Key message: Our firewall is no longer compliant. Example #4 Context: I want to reward my team. Intent: You should know . . . Key message: I’m going to spend the entire bonus budget. Example #5 Context: I’m working on project ABC. Intent: You should know . . . Key message: We missed a deadline, but the customer said it’s OK. Example #6 Context: The kitchen sink is leaking. Intent: I need your help. Key message: Can you call a plumber?

KEEP SEPARATE TOPICS SEPARATE “You can only add or combine two things if they are of the same kind” – Steve Demme

More than one context = more than one topic of conversation = more than one framing If you have reviewed the context

If you have a single context and a single intent, you almost always need only a single framing. An example of this is if you need to give an update on two or more items in a single topic. “Hi, Boss. We’ve completed the filing audit. There are only a couple of things you might want to know. First, nothing needs your attention; Joanna signed off on the report. Also, we’re borrowing some interns from legal to help us finish tidying the files. Larry, the VP of Legal, said it was fine.”

The filing audit example above could have become an ambush with a slight change to one key message. “Hi, Boss. We’ve completed the filing audit. There are only a couple of things you might want to know. First, nothing needs your attention; Joanna signed off on the report. Also, we’re borrowing some interns from legal to help us finish tidying. Can you check with Larry, the VP of Legal, to see if that’s OK?” The intent of this message was set as “things you might want to know,” but it finished with a request to ask Larry a question. After hearing the original intent, the recipient wouldn’t be expecting the request to talk to the VP of Legal. While this may be a small thing, no one likes surprise requests or actions. The conversation should have been framed as two topics, an update and a request for help. You may recognize these ambushes if you have ever thought “Wait, what?”

Example: Timothy had three topics to talk to his team leader about. Advice about how to handle a problem with a recent delivery A decision about nominating a colleague for an award A decision about some time off Timothy knew his team leader was busy, so he wanted to be as clear and concise as possible. Here’s how he combined them into a single framing: Context: I’d like to talk to you about three things. Intent: I need some advice, and I have a couple of decisions. Key message: We have an issue with the office supply delivery. I’d like to nominate Dave for an award, and I have a request for some time off.

Example: Andrea is a claims adjuster for an insurance company. Her team recently started work in a new region, and she wants to update her boss on the previous week’s events. Two topics are at the top of her list, and she has prepared the framing for each topic. Topic #1 Context: New region roll-out. Intent: Heads-up/FYI. Key Message: The full-time team is exceeding all their key performance indicators (KPIs). Topic #2 Context: New region roll-out. Intent: Need a decision. Key Message: Should we cancel the contract for additional staff? Having prepared both framings, Andrea feels the conversation needs to start with something to help make it clear the topics are separate. She can see how a performance update relates to the contract for additional staff but doesn’t want the two topics to be mixed up. Andrea wants to make sure the full-time team is recognized for its great performance, and that the KPIs aren’t seen as a reason to cancel a contract for extra staff. Andrea prepares an introduction for the conversation that sets up both topics without mixing them up. “I have an update on the new region roll-out and have two topics to discuss. One is an FYI about the team’s great performance. The other needs a decision about the extra staffing.”

Goal: Wouldn’t it be great if we could start conversations about large and complex topics in a way that was always clear and easy to understand? Problem: Communication courses tell us to be concise, to start with a summary of the topic, but they rarely show us exactly how to create a summary. It’s one thing to know you should be doing something. It’s quite another to know how to do it. Solution: The solution to this problem is to create a structured summary using what I call the “goal, problem, solution” method.

MISTAKE #3: Dwelling on the past instead of the next steps: How much time is spent talking about the history of an issue instead of focusing on the actions to fix it? When something breaks or fails, we tend to spend a lot of time talking about the cause of the problem. Meetings set up to address the issue spend up to 80 percent of the allotted time focused on the problem and why it happened.

Conversations should not focus on problems; they should focus on solving problems.

Goal, problem, solution forms an easy-to-remember initialism: GPS. Just like the navigation aid with the same name, the GPS method is a tool to help you show others where you want to go, to highlight the obstacles between you and your destination, and to describe the route to get there.

“I’ve just spoken to the Davison Group. Can you help me with a problem? They didn’t get the last shipment and want a refund. The Davison Group prepaid for a shipment last month that didn’t arrive, and we need to fix this. I can’t find the shipment, and the refund is above the limit I can approve. Can you authorize the refund and help me find the missing shipment?”

Context: I’ve just spoken to the Davison Group. Intent: Can you help me with a problem? Key Message: They didn’t get the last shipment and want a refund. Goal: The Davison Group prepaid for a shipment last month that didn’t arrive; we need to fix this. Problem: I can’t find the shipment, and the refund is above the limit I can approve. Solution: Can you authorize the refund and help me find the missing shipment?

Context: I reviewed the new information security policy. Intent: We need to take action. Key message: Our firewall is not compliant anymore. Goal: The new industry regulations require a level-five firewall for all ecommerce transactions to keep payment data secure. Problem: Our current software will only allow us to support up to level four. Solution: We need to come up with a plan for upgrading the software and present it to the leadership team for approval.

Goal: Build a science lab in space and help humankind learn a lot of important things. Problem: Space is hard to get to, and there are a hundred ways a person can be killed up there. Solution: Spend a lot of money to make sure the scientists using the lab stay alive.

There are a few core and unfortunately quite common causes of overly complex descriptions at work. Cause #1: We assume the audience thinks like us. Cause #2: We believe the audience needs to know all the details to be able to understand the problem. Cause #3: We focus on variables and dependencies instead of the problem. Cause #4: We summarize more than one problem at once.

Always start with the least amount of information and data possible to make your point.

Start with the simplest explanation. You can always add more detail if needed.

If you need a decision, the summary should focus on the decision to be made, not all the reasons why the decision is needed.

If you need advice on how to solve a problem, the summary should focus on the problem that needs solving and not on all the reasons why the problem exists.

Goal: To deliver a product upgrade on time. Problem: We are going to miss the go-live date because we have multiple related issues, each with different timelines. Solution: I need to get time with your team to work through the issues and create a response plan.

Goal: To deliver the product upgrade on time. Problem: We are going to miss the go-live date because we have multiple related issues, including late deliveries, a production process backlog, and delayed testing, each with different timelines. Solution: I need to get time with your team to work through the issues and create a response plan.

Being able to summarize a topic is a key skill when communicating to leaders. They want to get the high-level summary before hearing any details. If you want to become a leader, or if you regularly communicate with leaders, the ability to summarize clearly is something you need to master.

PROBLEMS ARE NEVER SOLVED IN THE PAST

this is great from a lesson-learned and process-improvement perspective, it’s terrible for solving the problem.

Conversations that focus on the causes of problems are only positive when the goal of the conversation is to prevent the problem from happening again.

However, the goal of most of our communication is to focus on the actions required to quickly solve the problem.