Become a better communicator: Specific frameworks to improve your clarity, influence, and impact | Wes Kao (coach, entrepreneur, advisor)
This episode features Wes Kayo, co-creator of Alt-NBA and founder of Maven, discussing how to become a world-class communicator. She shares practical tactics and frameworks for executive communication and influence, emphasizing agency and preparation.
Deep Dive Analysis
14 Topic Outline
Introduction to Wes Kao and Communication Importance
The 'Sales, Then Logistics' Communication Framework
Achieving Conciseness in Communication
Signposting and Effective Formatting in Writing
Developing and Practicing Communication Skills
Cultivating Confidence and Accuracy in Communication
The 'Most Obvious Objection' (MOO) Framework
Strategies for Staying Calm in High-Stakes Conversations
Effective Strategies for Managing Up
Giving Constructive Feedback: Strategy, Not Self-Expression
Delegating Effectively While Maintaining High Standards (CEDAF)
Utilizing a 'Swipe File' for Communication Inspiration
Leveraging AI for Enhanced Communication
Lightning Round: Book Recommendations and Personal Insights
7 Key Concepts
Sales, Then Logistics
This communication principle emphasizes first selling the audience on *why* they should do something (the benefits, the problem it solves) before diving into the *how* (the details, process, logistics). It ensures buy-in before discussing implementation, preventing slow or no response.
Concision vs. Briefness
Being concise is about the economy of words and the density of insight, not merely a low word count. A concise message is clear and impactful, avoiding meandering language, even if it's longer than a brief, confusing message, and often requires preparation.
Signposting
Signposting involves using specific words, phrases, and structural elements in writing or verbal communication to guide the audience, signal upcoming information, and highlight important points. This technique reduces cognitive load for the reader or listener and helps maintain attention.
Most Obvious Objection (MOO)
The MOO framework is a mental filter for anticipating likely questions or pushback before a meeting or presentation. By spending a few minutes thinking about potential objections, one can prepare responses or pre-emptively address concerns, reducing the chance of being blindsided.
Strategy, Not Self-Expression
This principle for giving constructive feedback focuses on motivating behavior change rather than venting personal frustrations. The goal is to trim everything that doesn't contribute to the desired outcome of the person changing their behavior, ensuring the feedback is productive.
Question Behind the Question
A technique used in high-stakes conversations where, instead of simply answering a direct question, one probes to understand the deeper, underlying concern or motivation behind why the question is being asked. This allows for a more relevant and impactful response and continues the conversation.
Swipe File
A swipe file is a collection of inspirational examples of effective communication, such as well-articulated phrases, compelling copy, or effective strategy documents. The act of collecting these items helps train one's awareness to notice, analyze, and borrow from effective communication strategies.
12 Questions Answered
Communication is crucial because it's often 'the job' itself for leaders, enabling buy-in, effective decision-making, and achieving desired outcomes. Poor communication can lead to confusion, skepticism, and apathy, hindering progress.
Always start with 'sales' before 'logistics' by first explaining *why* the idea is important, what problem it solves, and how it benefits the business or the individual, before diving into the specific 'how-to' details.
The key to conciseness is preparation, not just brevity. By clarifying your core point beforehand, you can ensure your message has a high density of insight and avoids meandering, even if it's not the shortest possible message.
Use 'signposting' by incorporating specific words (e.g., 'for example,' 'because,' 'as a next step'), phrases, and a clear structure to guide the reader, highlight important information, and reduce their cognitive load.
Treat every interaction as 'game day' to get enough practice, adopt a hypothesis-driven experimental mindset, and focus on improving one specific tactic at a time rather than trying to change everything at once.
Speak accurately about your level of conviction, stating hypotheses as hunches rather than facts, and backing them up with evidence and logic. Avoid both overstating your certainty and diminishing your well-reasoned recommendations.
Use the 'Most Obvious Objection' (MOO) framework by spending a few minutes thinking about the most likely questions or pushback you might receive. This allows you to prepare responses or address concerns proactively.
Instead of just saying 'I'll get back to you,' try to answer a similar question in the direction you think the person is asking, and then probe to understand the 'question behind the question' to continue the conversation in the moment.
The most highly leveraged way to manage up is to proactively share your point of view and recommendations, backed by evidence, rather than just asking your manager what to do. This reduces their cognitive load and demonstrates strategic thinking.
Adopt a 'strategy, not self-expression' approach. Focus solely on the parts of your feedback that will motivate the other person to change their behavior, trimming any personal frustrations or venting, and ideally getting out any emotional energy before the conversation.
Use the CEDAF framework: ensure **C**omprehension of the task, create **E**xcitement by explaining the 'why,' **D**e-risk potential issues, **A**lign with the person by allowing questions, and establish a short **F**eedback loop.
Use AI as a thought partner for initial drafts, especially for challenging communications like declining requests. Provide clear context and your point of view to get better outputs, and then iterate by editing and asking the AI for improvements on your revised versions.
30 Actionable Insights
1. Take Agency for Communication
If you’re not getting the desired reaction from your communication, reflect on how you might be contributing to the confusion or skepticism and how you can explain things more clearly, compellingly, and anticipate questions.
2. Anticipate Most Obvious Objection
Before communicating, spend a few minutes thinking about the ‘Most Obvious Objection’ (MOO) your audience might have; prepare your counter-arguments or proactively address them to avoid being blindsided and strengthen your pitch.
3. Lead with Sales, Then Logistics
Before detailing the ‘how-to’ or logistics of something, first ‘sell’ your audience on the ‘why’ and get them excited and bought into the idea, even if concisely, to avoid slow or no response.
4. Be Concise Through Preparation
Conciseness is about economy of words and density of insight, not just brevity; the most consistent way to achieve it is through preparation, even just a few minutes, to clarify your core point before communicating.
5. Share POV When Managing Up
Reduce your manager’s cognitive load by proactively sharing your point of view and recommendations, backed by observations, rather than just asking ‘what should we do,’ demonstrating strategic thinking.
6. Feedback for Behavior Change
When giving feedback, focus on ‘strategy, not self-expression’; trim emotional venting and only share what will motivate the person to change their behavior, keeping the goal of behavior change in mind.
7. Use CEDAF for Delegation
When delegating, use the CEDAF framework: ensure Comprehension (all info needed), build Excitement (explain why), De-risk (anticipate and mitigate issues), Align (ensure mutual understanding), and establish a fast Feedback loop.
8. Speak with Accurate Confidence
Avoid overstating hypotheses as facts or diminishing strong recommendations; speak accurately about your level of conviction and the evidence you have to prevent problems and ensure responsible decision-making.
9. Practice Like It’s Game Day
Treat every stakeholder as important and practice your best communication behavior consistently, not just with executives, to get enough repetitions and improve your skills across all interactions.
10. Review Written Communication
Take a few extra moments to review your written messages (emails, Slack) for clarity and completeness; a poorly written message can cause significant back-and-forth and waste many people’s time.
11. Avoid ‘Single-Minded Martyr’
When advocating for an idea, avoid being a ‘single-minded martyr’ by considering the broader organizational context and current priorities, and be willing to right-size your proposal or accept that ’not right now’ might be the best decision for the company.
12. Use Signposting
Employ specific words (e.g., ‘for example,’ ‘because,’ ‘as a next step,’ ‘first, second, third’) and structure to guide your audience, signal upcoming information, and grab attention in both written and verbal communication.
13. Frame ‘Why’ Concisely
Briefly remind people why you are discussing something and why it matters (1-2 minutes or a couple of sentences) at the beginning of a conversation or presentation to ensure everyone is on the same page and listening intently.
14. Prepare for Meetings
Before a meeting, take 30 seconds to one minute to ground yourself on why you are there, what you want to share, and what you want to get across, to be more focused and concise during the discussion.
15. State Your Needs Upfront
Clearly articulate what you need from the other person at the beginning of a conversation or presentation, such as ‘what I’m looking for from you is feedback on the changes,’ to set clear expectations.
16. Trim ‘Cog and Float’
When writing, ask yourself how you might be adding unnecessary ‘cog and float’ and actively look for tighter, clearer, and cleaner ways to phrase your questions, information, or recommendations.
17. Use Complete Sentences
Avoid overusing bulleted sentence fragments; instead, use complete sentences to clearly show the logical flow and connective tissue between ideas, ensuring your reader doesn’t have to decipher your meaning.
18. Use Formatting Sparingly
Avoid excessive formatting like bolding too much text, as it negates the purpose of highlighting; use formatting more sparingly than you think necessary to ensure emphasis is effective.
19. Avoid Biased Framing
Present information without biasing data towards your agenda, as people will notice and discount your message if they perceive a clear bias, eroding trust.
20. Address Question Behind Question
If you don’t know an exact answer, instead of just saying ‘I’ll get back to you,’ try to answer a similar question in the direction you think the person is asking, and probe to understand the deeper ‘question behind the question’ to continue the conversation.
21. Reflect Back Questions
When unsure how to respond, reflect back the question to the speaker to clarify understanding and buy yourself time to formulate a thoughtful answer.
22. Speak Up About Problems
As a junior person, leverage your proximity to problems and customer interactions by actively speaking up and sharing your observations and insights with your manager, who may lack that visibility.
23. Vent Before Giving Feedback
Before giving constructive feedback, vent your frustrations to a trusted third party (therapist, partner, friend) to release emotional energy and ensure you approach the conversation grounded and focused on the desired outcome.
24. Create a ‘Swipe File’
Maintain a ‘swipe file’ (e.g., an Apple Notes file) to collect well-articulated phrases, strategic insights, or effective communication examples from others, training yourself to notice what works well and borrow from it.
25. Use AI as Thought Partner
Utilize AI tools like Claude for initial drafts of communications or to brainstorm responses, providing your point of view for better output, and then iterate by asking the AI for improvements on your edits.
26. Expect Longer Timelines
Adopt the motto ’everything takes longer than you think’ and build in buffers for tasks, errands, career development, and project launches to reduce stress and manage expectations effectively.
27. Always Be Selling
Embrace the motto ‘Always Be Selling,’ which means consistently putting forth effort to convincingly present and advocate for your recommendations and ideas to others, not just pawning wares.
28. Craft Work Around Strengths
Intentionally craft your work to focus on your core strengths and the areas where you excel and add significant value, even if it’s a narrow slice, to maximize impact and personal satisfaction.
29. Measure Speed to Reaction
Track how quickly and enthusiastically you get the desired reaction from your audience; if there’s a lot of friction, practice communication skills to speed up the process and reduce back-and-forth.
30. Focus on One Habit
When improving communication, pick one tactic to focus on and practice it in various settings until it becomes a habit, rather than trying to implement too many changes at once and feeling overwhelmed.
8 Key Quotes
If I'm not getting the reaction that I'm looking for, how might I be contributing?
Wes Kao
The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.
George Bernard Shaw (quoted by Lenny Rachitsky)
The blast radius of a poorly written memo is way bigger than most people think.
Wes Kao
You can't cut to the chase unless you know what the chase is.
Wes Kao
If you've sold them, stop talking.
Lenny Rachitsky
I don't know what I think until I write it down.
Joan Didion (quoted by Lenny Rachitsky)
Everything takes longer than you think.
Wes Kao
Always Be Selling.
Wes Kao
1 Protocols
CEDAF Framework for Effective Delegation
Wes Kao- C - Comprehension: Ensure the person has everything they need to understand the task, including logins and understanding the desired end result.
- E - Excitement: Explain the 'why' behind the task to make it as exciting as possible, connecting it to career goals or company priorities.
- D - De-risk: Anticipate and address obvious risks, such as the person going in the wrong direction or misunderstanding the scope (e.g., have them do a small portion first and regroup).
- A - Align: Give the other person a chance to ask questions and ensure mutual understanding and alignment on the task.
- F - Feedback: Establish the shortest possible feedback loop, checking in frequently (e.g., after the initial explanation, after a day) to ensure progress and address issues early.