Permission is given to reprint the following articles, provided that the following contact information is provided in its entirety. 

© by Bonnie Budzowski, President of InCredible Messages, LP. 
Visit  www.IncredibleMessages.com or contact Bonnie at info@IncredibleMessages.com. 

See More InCredible Messages Articles or visit InCredible Messages Blog

Climb the Ladder to Clear & Concise Communication

By Bonnie Budzowski
President, InCredible Messages, LP

Be vivid.  Be concrete. Give details.  This is classic advice for writers and speakers.  We know the advice is good, but most people find vivid communication easier said than done.

Reframe the advice as follows, and you’ll find it more manageable:  Move up and down the ladder of abstraction.

What’s the ladder of abstraction?  Picture a standard ladder in your mind.  On the bottom rung is your family dog, Fido.  On the next rung is Labrador Retriever.  On the next rung is canine.  On the next is descendent of wolves. Next is man’s best friend.  On the final rung is unconditional love.  The bottom of the ladder is concrete.  I can grasp Fido, touch him and smell him, feel his sloppy kisses.  On the top of the ladder is an abstract category called unconditional love, much harder to define and touch.  The experience of Fido helps me to understand at least one dimension of unconditional love.

The best communicators move intentionally up and down the ladder of abstraction.  For example, when good communicators talk to us about courage, they don’t leave us in the clouds.  They give us an example of what they mean by the abstract idea of courage, perhaps in the person of Lance Armstrong or Rosa Parks.  Or perhaps courage is a picture of a whistle blower in a large corporation.  In any case, courage is high on the ladder.  The person is low on the ladder, providing a concise embodiment of the concept.

For another example, consider a company that claims to value customer service.  By itself, this value is so abstract it can mean something different to each employee.  Add a description at the other end of the ladder of abstraction, like “we respond to all customer complaints within 24 hours,” and employee comprehension changes.

If we only talk about concrete things, we lose the meaning of rich words like liberty, leadership, love, and justice.  These are concepts and ideals that make us human and civilized.  If we stick only with these ideals, however, we fail to communicate how to put the ideals into action.  The admonition, move up and down the ladder of abstraction, helps us to communicate with power, clarity, and profound meaning. 

Notice that communicators that are stuck in the middle of the ladder, where canines and descendants of wolves abide, are the least interesting communicators.  The low rungs are specific and concrete; the high rungs are lofty.  The middle rungs are neither.  They are simply blah.
 
Say a silent thanks to S.I. Hayakawa, who popularized the ladder of abstraction in 1939—and then use the tool to go low and go high.  Climb the ladder to increased effectiveness in your communication!

Permission is granted to reprint this article when the following contact information is included: © 2010 by Bonnie Budzowski, President of InCredible Messages, LP. For more free articles, go to www.IncredibleMessages.com or contact Bonnie at info@IncredibleMessages.com.

Bonnie Budzowski, President of inCredible Messages, is a recognized expert—helping people to use influence and persuasion to sell their ideas and move business forward. Bonnie is a professional speaker, author and coach. She recently launched a new coaching project to help her clients "Write the Book of Their Dreams."

Clients appreciate Bonnie’s practical, humorous and high-energy approach. She holds an MA in Communication and has been called upon to work with corporations, entrepreneurs, universities, and associations.

If you’d like to sell your ideas, boost your influence, or advance your career through a book or presentation, call Bonnie at 412-828-1629, bonnie@inCredibleMessages.com or visit her website at www.inCredibleMessages.com. 

Return to Top