Most Challenging Communication 4: Conveying Goals, Tasks & Expectations
When conveying goals, tasks or expectations, it’s helpful to draw on your grade school “show and tell” experience. Back in those days you were asked to prepare something you could illustrate, explain and demonstrate for show and tell. Your teacher knew then what you need to know now – that the show and tell approach reaches your audience according to all three learning styles: Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic (or hands on).
My favorite definition of a goal is “a picture.” A goal is a picture in your mind’s eye of how you want something to look, sound, perform or turn out. When conveying expectations, you are transferring that picture from your mind to the other person’s. By using show, tell and, when possible, hands on demonstration, you increase the odds your listener will get the true picture.
As a kid I wanted to take over the lawn mowing responsibility at home. I persuaded my dad to let me take on the chore. He instructed me to get the lawn mower, gas can, rake and grass clippers, showed me how to do a safety check, fill up the gas tank and start the engine. He helped me get started and then told me he would check my results when he returned from work that evening.
After mowing the lawn, I waited eagerly for him to return from work. Once home, he asked me to step out onto the sidewalk in front of our house with him and to examine the lawn. “Ok, not bad for your first try,” he said. “You got most of it mowed nicely.” He then pointed out the “islands” of tall grass still standing and the fact I hadn’t trimmed along the foundation of the house and next to the trees. He had me retrieve all the tools and helped me, with hands-on demonstration, to finish the lawn perfectly. Then we stood back and admired a job well done. “That,” he said, “is how you want the lawn to look when you’re finished.” I saw it, experienced it and got it!
My dad used all three learning tools to transfer the idea of how a lawn should look. Once that picture was placed perfectly and clearly in my mind, I was able to accomplish the same task – paint the same picture – time and time again. By telling me what to do, he engaged my ability to hear and learn through the auditory sense. He gave me a” hands-on” demonstration, during which we both did the trimming, raking, etc. until I got it right. Then he showed me how the final product should look through my visual sense. Show, tell and demonstrate. It works!
