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You may
have read an article I wrote earlier this year about the
need for a new grammar. So much has changed in our
world over the past 15 years.
So much so
that I strongly believe the communication being taught
to business, media and the communication profession is
out of date.
If we want
to communicate well in the future, we have to learn new
rules. Gone are the days of rigid rules for
communication which worked in our protected past.
Your
choice
The future
of communication is about questions, not answers.
To be successful you have a choice:
-
Follow the communication rules - for example,
traditional sentence structure requires a subject,
object and verb.
-
Look to the future where rules are less important
than ensuring understanding.
I was privileged
to be speak at an Australian conference on the Gold
Coast, Queensland. It was the annual AODC
conference - for professional writers who write for
online documents.
My topic was the
new grammar. It's a new project I'm working on
as we discover how to make communication more
powerful as the world evolves, becoming faster,
smaller, global and frankly, more stressful.
Sarah Maddox, an
Australian technical writer, has published a really
useful guide to the conference and
summarised the new grammar session on her blog.
Free material
I'm grateful to
all the folk who came up and affirmed the challenges
we discussed while giving positive feedback on the
message. (Also for the social interaction of
this really enjoyable conference!)
If you
weren't at the conference, and are interested in
some of what we looked at, you may like to read my handout
which is
available free as a PDF by
clicking here. It is
copyright but you're welcome to print it so long as
it's not used commercially.
Seminar or keynote
You might be
working through similar issues in relation to
communication. such as how to ensure your
message is heard and understood by your community in
this increasingly noisy world where everyone is
competing for attention. If so, I'd
love to hear from you and learn your experiences.
If you would like
me or one of my colleagues from Talkshow
Communication to share what we've learned with your
team in a seminar or workshop, or at your company or
association conference, drop us a line. Email
my PA:
estelle@talkshowcommunication.com
Jonathan Halls - May 2008
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