Many companies try to communicate calm to their shareholders to keep them from panic.  As often as not they produce the opposite results. Here is a case-study.

Press Release: 3-31-2011

Wanderport Corp. (PINKSHEETS: WDRP) today announced that procurement authorization has been granted and approved for the remaining equipment and provisions, which were quoted by engineering and design partners for its microwave energy tankless water heater (MHU).

In conjunction with said engineering and design partners, the Company is well within the end process of procurement in order to complete the single cavity MHU.

“This is significant because the pieces of the puzzle are finally coming together and it symbolizes the transition of my long held vision into reality,” said Robert Simoneau, Wanderport’s Technical Advisor and Product Licensor.

The procurement list includes the advanced heat exchanger unit fabricated using a ceramic type material and customized to exact specifications. This unique enclosure or chamber was designed using thermal dynamic techniques and forms an integral and key component of the baseline single cavity unit. Other items include the metal enclosure, tubes and fittings for plumbing and some miscellaneous items.

“This juncture has been long awaited, as we take the final steps to producing the MHU expected this April 2011. Proceeding with a single cavity ‘point of use’ MHU provides a premise to evaluate the function of our product prior to expansion toward a ‘Point of Entry’ MHU,” said Wanderport’s CEO, Richard Martel. “Suddenly, the immense ‘point of use’ revenue steam is within sight, while we anticipate preparations toward a ‘Point of Entry’ MHU and the considerable market it represents,” further added Mr. Martel.”

After receiving this release, one shareholder posted online:

…it would be nice if the company would just speak to investors in plain language. Once again, they have chosen words which can and are being interpreted differently by different investors. I don’t understand why they have to choose words which cause confusion. A PR is a company’s opportunity to create excitement and generate public interest. Although they have provided some information they have also created doubt.

Many of you know I’ve been here for over a year and am a long-term investor. I’m not a trader and and don’t flip anything here. I believe in the potential of this product and would be thrilled if this PR left me warm and fuzzy…but it doesn’t. Today, one of my friends who invested in the company at my recommendation asked me if there is something wrong after reading today’s PR. Another said that much of it was just mumbo-jumbo. That is not what a PR should instill in someone invested in the company. ..

Plain Language Pleadings

Carol Ann Wilson, author

Plain Language Pleadings

ISBN 0-13-199639-8

This is a book for lawyers and anyone who drafts documents for lawyers, but particularly legal assistants/paralegals and legal secretaries.

I would describe it as a professional guide; Prentice Hall considers it a textbook. There are tools included: samples, forms, and checklists. There is a review of grammar rules and advice from experts.

This is the only book devoted to lawyers’ assistants who draft documents. It provides arguments that can be used to convince those lawyers to use plain language instead of legalese.

I found out about Lisa Braithwaite’s Speak Schmeak blog and this post:
What if your worst public speaking fear comes true? through Business Communication Headline News.

Preparing to share some of it with you, I discovered I have not addressed public speaking on this blog. so it is definitely time to break the ice.

Lisa has allowed me to share her remarks with you in order to provide my added comments. The headings below are Lisa’s. The block-quotes are hers also. My thoughts are added after her comments.

Lisa titled her post: What if your worst public speaking fear comes true?

I used to teach public speaking skills to people who would become interpretors in courtrooms and elsewhere. I posed that question to them at the beginning of the course. Someone would always say, I am afraid I will have a heart attack and die.

So I would tell them that very rarely this does happen–to experienced speakers whose time has come. I ask how realistic this fear is: “Not very likely.” So we are able to put this aside and move on.

You’re afraid of losing your place

Bring notes! Put them to the side so you don’t use them as a crutch. If you forget what you were going to say, take a moment to look at the notes and move on.

You are not reading from a typed speech, are you? Use notes only, as Lisa suggests.

Or make a key-word outline of your remarks on a 3×5 card. Keep it in your hand, then you can step away from the podium and speak extemporaneously* without going to far off base. A quick glance at a card in your palm draws no special attention.

I prepare I set of cards and number them in the upper right corner. I can carry them with me around the room, or just pick them up a couple at a time.

You’re afraid your computer will freeze up or your PowerPoint will fail

Have a plan B. Have a backup laptop, a backup disk of your presentation, a flip chart, or be prepared to present without technology (this is how we all did it back in the day). Read this interview for an example of how plan B (and almost plan C) was put into action.

It is always wise to plan for how you will manage without computer aid.

I once turned up for a presentation where the hosts had promised a laptop would be there, but they forgot they might need an extension cord. While the host ran off to an office supply store at 7 p.m., I gave my presentation without the technology.

I also collect physical objects that will serve to make my point. I have a small triangular board that I use whenever talking about the communication triad: Audience-Purpose-Message.

I’ll post more on this tomorrow…

* Dictionary.com – extemporaneous
…2. previously planned but delivered with the help of few or no notes: extemporaneous lectures.

Well, lucky for me that Seth Godin blogged about writing this week and gave me my inspiration. Here is his full post:

Sort of, just and Donald Trump

I noticed a little while ago that I was using the word “just” and the phrase “sort of” in my writing. All the time, in fact. In my last book, a search and replace removed more than 80 unnecessary ‘justs’.

Just say it.

Don’t hide behind waffling terms that don’t mean anything.

On the other hand, as I passed the skating rink in New York with the Donald’s name plastered all over it, I’m reminded of a new trend I’m seeing more of, which is the act of declaring whatever you’re working on ‘the best ever,’ ‘the best in the world,’ etc.

Saying it doesn’t make it so. In fact, it probably makes it unso.

Take the advice and cut out those extra words. Not just the waffling words but the insistent words like “very” as in “It was a very long time since he had called”.

In fact, you should be able to go through your writing and cut it by at least 10%. When I edit the work of wordy professionals like lawyers, bureaucrats, and academics, I set myself a goal of reducing the word count by 30%.

The Wall Street Journal report “The Informed Patient” starts with this unsurprising info:
“Informed consent may be the biggest misnomer in medicine: Studies show that most patients don’t read the forms they sign before undergoing surgery or medical treatment. More than half of those who do read the forms don’t understand them, and only a quarter of forms include all of the data patients need to make an informed decision.”

The advice below is taken from an interview with Laura Morgan Roberts in Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge website called “Creating a Positive Professional Image“

Put your mind to what your image communicates about you and how that affects your message:

Be the author of your own identity.

Take a strategic, proactive approach to managing your image:

Identify your ideal state.

• What are the core competencies and character traits you want people to associate with you?
• Which of your social identities do you want to emphasize and incorporate into your workplace interactions, and which would you rather minimize?

Assess your current image, culture, and audience.

• What are the expectations for professionalism?
• How do others currently perceive you?

Conduct a cost-benefit analysis for image change.

• Do you care about others’ perceptions of you?
• Are you capable of changing your image?
• Are the benefits worth the costs? (Cognitive, psychological, emotional, physical effort)

Use strategic self-presentation to manage impressions and change your image.

• Employ appropriate traditional and social identity-based impression management strategies.
• Pay attention to the balancing act—build credibility while maintaining authenticity.

Manage the effort you invest in the process.

• Monitoring others’ perceptions of you
• Monitoring your own behavior
• Strategic self-disclosure
• Preoccupation with proving worth and legitimacy

This is the third in the series on apology. It is fortuitus that I found another blog entry just today on Public Apology.

For a look at the apology in the public arena, three items,
one from Harvard Business Review and two from Bernaisesauce.

HB Working Knowledge, A Framework for Apologies

by Barbara Kellerman

Here are some questions that can guide your approach.

• What function would a public apology serve?
• Who would benefit from an apology?
  
• Why would an apology matter?
  
• What happens if you apologize publicly?
  
• What happens if you don’t apologize?

from “When Should a Leader Apologize—and When Not?” Harvard Business Review, Vol. 84, No. 4, April 2006.

And from Bernaise Source

Apologizing in the New Media Age… quoting DPK Public Relations

Why Apologies Are A Crisis Communications Staple

• Take responsibility as soon as possible. Apologize as soon after the offense as possible.
• Describe what you did. Don’t be vague or use euphemisms that attempt to tidy up your mess. A short, direct statement is perfect followed by a brief explanation of the circumstances surrounding it to provide context.
• Express remorse. Make your apology as heartfelt as you can without assuming liability. Tone is important here. The statement must reflect genuine remorse.
• Shut up. Afterward, be quiet and listen while people tell you how angry they are. If it’s really bad, they’ll call for your head. Know that you’ve done the right thing and time is on your side.
• Make it right. In such situations, what you DO always trumps what you SAY. Therefore, symbolic gestures matter. Your attempts to correct the problem and compensate those who have been wronged are essential. However, be careful not to promise more than you can deliver…

And again from bernaisesauce an entertaining rif on the sincerity of recent public apologies:

Apology Notes: A Rating Sytem

Red heart – heart felt apology accompanied by meaningful
change in action beyond what was expected

Clear heart – the apology is sincere, with no game changing
action beyond what was expected

Broken heart – meaningless apology mailed in by a PR
department or publicist where bad actions continue

I just returned from a cross-country trip, and found this in my email, via Newswise:

Some people face their biggest problem with communication when sharing new information with people they know well, newly published research at the University of Chicago shows.

Because they already share quite a bit of common knowledge, people often use short, ambiguous messages in talking with co-workers and spouses, and accordingly unintentionally create misunderstandings, said Boaz Keysar, Professor in Psychology at the University of Chicago.

“People are so used to talking with those with whom they already share a great deal of information, that when they have something really new to share, they often present it in away that assumes the person already knows it,” said Keysar, who with graduate student Shali Wu tested Keysar’s communication theories and presented the results in an article, “The Effect of Information Overlap on Communication Effectiveness,” published in the current issue of Cognitive Science.

“Sharing additional [new] information reduces communication effectiveness precisely when there is an opportunity to inform—when people communicate information only they themselves know,” the researchers said.

In real life situations, the assumptions people make about what another person knows have many consequences, Keysar said. Doctors, for instance, often communicate quickly with each other and miscommunicate because they don’t realize the other physician is getting new information when they are discussing a treatment program, he suggested.

Literacy challenges facing the listener and lack of clarity from the speaker impact relations between professionals and their patients or clients.

Everyone can learn a few tricks here to improve their communication:

today from The New York Times
Knowing What the Doctor Is Talking About

Dr. Sunil Kripalani of the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta and Dr. Barry D. Weiss of the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson suggest these strategies:

¶ Doctors should assess the patient’s baseline understanding before providing extensive information: “Before we go on, could you tell me what you already know about high blood pressure?”

¶ Doctors should use plain language, not medical jargon, vague terms and words that may have different meanings to a lay person. They should say chest pain instead of angina, hamburger instead of red meat and, “You don’t have H.I.V.” instead of “Your H.I.V. test was negative.”

¶ To encourage patients to ask questions, doctors should ask, “What questions do you have?” rather than, “Do you have any questions?”

¶ Doctors should confirm the patient’s understanding by saying, “I always ask my patients to repeat things back to make sure I have explained them clearly.” Or, if a new skill like using an inhaler was taught, the doctor should have the patient demonstrate the action.

¶ Then, as fail-safe measures, the doctor should provide written instructions and educational material for the patient and family to review at home.