Did I Get That Right? - A High Leverage Habit that Requires Virtually Zero Skill
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Apr 11, 2025
Unlock the secret to effective communication by adopting a simple habit: restating what others say in your own words. This practice not only reduces misunderstandings but also enhances connections across all career levels. Discover how actively listening and paraphrasing fosters authenticity and credibility. Confirming understanding with a simple 'That's right' can deepen relationships and encourage clarity in conversations. Embrace this low-effort, high-reward technique to transform your interactions and boost comprehension.
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insights INSIGHT
Misunderstandings and Career Risk
Misunderstandings pose a significant risk to your career.
Making assumptions about what someone means can snowball into major miscommunications and setbacks.
insights INSIGHT
Low-Effort Communication
Our default mode of communication is low-effort because we are adapted to prioritize efficiency.
This stems from a survival instinct to communicate quickly, using as little energy as possible.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Restate and Confirm
Restate what others tell you in your own words to ensure clarity and mutual understanding.
Summarize or rephrase their message using your own terminology and let them correct you.
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This episode introduces a simple yet highly effective communication habit that can be adopted by anyone to significantly reduce the risk of misunderstandings and enhance connection. It explores how this practice, which requires thoughtful communication but no special skills, can benefit individuals at all career levels.
Discover why misunderstandings pose a significant risk to your career and how our natural inclination towards low-effort communication contributes to this risk.
Learn the core of this high-leverage habit: restating what someone is telling you in your own words to ensure clarity and mutual understanding. This involves summarising or rephrasing the other person's message using your own terminology.
Understand the multiple benefits of this technique, including demonstrating that you are actively listening, encoding the information more effectively for yourself, and most crucially, giving the other person the opportunity to correct your understanding.
Explore how this habit provides a critical opportunity to refine your understanding and check it against the speaker's intended message, ultimately leading to better comprehension.
Learn how receiving confirmation ("That's right") builds credibility and fosters a sense of being understood, creating a genuine connection with others.
Grasp the idea that this "mirroring back" of meaning, rather than just the words, is a cheap, deep, and high-leverage behaviour that can significantly improve your communication effectiveness in professional settings.
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