[[:encoded, "“Don’t communicate to be understood; rather, communicate so as not to be misunderstood” said Dr. John Lund, a well-known author and researcher in the field of human relationships – specifically in the area of communication. This subtle distinction is incredibly important, because it puts the responsibility of understanding on the shoulders of the communicator, not the audience. If you want to communicate with your team and your clients in a way that gets the results you want, you must speak with them in a way that they receive information best, and anticipate their thoughts and needs before you ever enter into a conversation with them.\n\nMost people enter into a conversation that you are about to have with them wondering:\n\n•\tWhat do they want from me?\n•\tHow long is this going to take?\n•\tDo I care about what they are saying to me?\n•\tHow is what they are saying going to help or benefit me?\n\nIf you are speaking with employees, they may also be thinking:\n\n•\tAm I in trouble; have I done something wrong?\n•\tIs my workload going to be made heavier?\n•\tI have work to finish before I can go home - how long will this take?\n\nIf you can find a way to manage conversation expectations from the very beginning, the chances of the person you are speaking to actually listening to what you have to say and engaging with you goes up exponentially.\n\nClearly State Your Purpose\n\nBefore you get into the meat of the conversation with a client or employee, it is best to come right out and address what the conversation is about and also address any of the previously mentioned questions they may be thinking. This could look like:\n\n“Hello (client name), I wanted to talk to you about (state your purpose or conversation goal) – it should only take about fifteen minutes and I really think that it will benefit you personally/your business/your bottom line/etc.” In just a few short words, you have clearly outlined what you expect to discuss with them, you have offered them an idea of how long you expect the discussion to take, and you have outlined a glimpse of how you think the conversation topic will benefit or affect them. \n\nIf you need to speak with an employee about a disciplinary issue, for example, you could say, “Hello (employee name); I need to discuss (state the infraction) with you; it should only take a few minutes, and while I am disappointed to have to address this with you, I value you as an employee and think we can work through this quickly to

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