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The financial industry is notorious for jargon and for making things more complicated than they need to be. How do you make people snap out of that?

That’s one of the reasons our program takes three days. First, you’ll come in with the mindset of how you’ve been doing it all along. But then you listen to your colleagues’ presentations and you hear perhaps six to eight people and you realize: we’re not saying much.

«Your job is not to be brilliant»

In five minutes, I can say all those things about bottom-up research and rumble strips and guardrails and investment process and so on. But these stories are so commodified that we hear the same thing over and over. The only thing we can do is make it real. And how do you do that? By using simple language.

What is the litmus test of whether I got this right?

If they are able to turn around and retell your story. You want to have the story that everyone tells their clients. You have to realize that your job is not to be brilliant: it’s to offer a solution that can be implemented and to have someone turn around and retell it. It’s not about dumbing down, it’s about simplifying. 

But if I sound simple, I may not sound very smart.

Of course, your clients want you to be smart. But, more importantly, they want to sound smart themselves. And if they can’t retell your story well, they won’t tell it at all.

«It’s not manipulation»

What’s your objective? To be brilliant or to actually get something done and do so repeatedly? And once you get that, it’ll change some of your word choices.

Is this applicable as well in daily life?

Absolutely!

Isn’t that manipulative in daily interactions with a spouse or friends?

No, because we’re doing it anyway, subconsciously. When people define sales, they think of it as getting someone to do something that the person doesn’t want to. But the real aim is to get to an agreement at the end of the conversation – any conversation. This is more organized and deliberate. It’s not manipulation, it’s listening thoughtfully. 

«Think about what reaction certain topics will trigger»

Hopefully when you sit down with someone, you will have thought about what to say and what needs to happen at the end of the conversation. Even more so with difficult conversations, where emotions play a big part. I would sit down beforehand and think about what reaction certain topics will trigger. Because if I trip all over the issues, we never get to the conversation we need to have and the agreements we need to reach – together.

What should readers do after reading this interview?

Become aware of their own communication habits. Are you speaking more than you’re listening? Are you guiding clients to implement your solutions with organized, actionable recommendations? Are they able to re-tell your stories? If not, there may be an opportunity to simplify your story and take more time to consider what your audience needs rather than what you want to give them. By the way, this works with friends and family, too.

Danielle Bolla is vice-president and communication consultant at The Fusion Group, in Weston, Florida. Bolla recently conducted a three-day workshop called Presenting for Results!® in Zurich for Allianz Global Investors' Swiss staff. Danielle has been with Fusion for 18 years and has a bachelor's in theater and a Masters in communication from Florida Atlantic University.