#MessageNotReceived

Introduction
The Intersection of
Business, Language,
Communication, and
Technology
The single biggest problem in communication is
the illusion that it has taken place.
George Bernard Shaw

lthough he died in 1950, Shaws words live on, especially in the

business world. Far too many executives, salespeople, consultants,
and even rank-and-file employees just dont communicate very well.
No doubt, you know the type. Some think that theyre speaking and writing effectively when they drop ostensibly sophisticated
terms such as paradigm shift, synergy, net-net, low-hanging fruit, and
optics.* These folks regularly rely on obscure acronyms, technobabble, jargon, and buzzwords when plain English would suffice. They
constantly invent new tech-laden words, bastardize others, and turn
nouns into verbs. They ignore their audiences, oblivious to the context of what they say and write. In other words, they talk without
speaking, to paraphrase a popular U2 song.
Forget for a moment a software vendors poorly worded press
release and an incoming CEOs cringe-worthy memo about strategic synergies and alignments. Theres an underlying question here:
Is such jargon necessary? In other words, are todays business and
technology environments so different and complicated that they
require the use of an entirely new, usually confusing vocabulary?
For the most part the answer is no. At a high level, a good communicator should be able to explain confusing topics to teenagers
without getting all technical. I have done so on several occasions. Its
really not that hard. Just remember one thing:

* Weird

Al Yankovics Mission Statement hits the nail on the head: http://tinyurl

.com/mvuvpwv.
4

Introduction

At its most basic level, the word communicate means to make common.*

Subject: The Other Scourge of Business Communication

Bad business communication is a disease with significant costs and
far-reaching implications. The prevalence of hackneyed and utterly
meaningless terms, however, is just one of its causes.
Lets say that I could wave my magic wand and single-handedly
eliminate the use of jargon and confusing language in every organization in the world. No longer would you hear your manager say
things like, Lets take this offline, review our learnings, engage in
some blue-sky thinking, and then circle back. Poof! Value-adds and
paradigm shifts have been vanquished forever. Grammarians and
English teachers around the world would rejoice in the streets.
Would this solve the business communication problem?
Although wed be off to a good start, the answer is no. Even the
Orwellian abolishment of buzzwords would not guarantee that
our colleagues, partners, bosses, underlings, clients, and prospects
would effectively receive and understand our messages. A multitude
of misses (miscommunications, misapprehensions, misunderstandings, and mistakes) would still result. How? From the way in which
we overwhelmingly choose to send our messages.
Yes, Im talking about the first killer app of the Internet, our
widely preferred communications medium: e-mail. Many corporate
folks depend almost exclusively on it as a ubiquitous communications tool. They pepper their staff, colleagues, prospects, and clients
with torrents of messages. In the process, they actively resist new,
user-friendly, affordable, powerful, and truly collaborative tools specifically designed to make people work, collaborate, and communicate better. (Chapter 8 introduces several exciting and progressive
organizations that have adopted these new applications.)

Technology and the Cardinal Importance of Business Communication

In a way, nothing has changed. Business has always revolved around
communication, and some people have always been better than
* The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word communicate as to share or exchange
information, news, or ideas. For instance, the prisoner was forbidden to communicate with his family.

Worlds Are Colliding

others at writing and speaking. No one expects the squirrelly IT guy

to be as debonair as the CEO or the head of sales or marketing.
Not everyone can be Dale Carnegie. We expect different things
from different people at work. We accept the fact that management
consultants, techies, software salespeople, and chief execs may communicate in oblique manners. This holds true irrespective of the
medium: writing a quick e-mail, penning a company-wide announcement, addressing thousands of people, or speaking individually to a
colleague in person. For a long time now, the inability to communicate effectively has inhibited many organizations and derailed individual careers. We have always taken certain people with 50-pound
bags of salt. Ignoring or tuning out blowhards may stop an oncoming migraine, but its hardly a good solution to the problem, much
less the ideal one.
In another way, everything has changed. Never before has the
business world moved as fast as it does todaya trend that will only
intensify for the foreseeable future. This is particularly true on
technology-related matters. The need for clear and effective communication is more essential than ever. Not only will this problem
persist if we ignore it, but it will exacerbate.

Whats the Big Whoop?

You may think that relying on jargon and excessive e-mails is just par
for the course. Whats the big deal, anyway?
Several reasons readily come to mind. The first is that, as mentioned earlier, the need for clear, concise, and context-appropriate
communication has never been more pronounced. As Chapter 2
demonstrates, employees are inundated with messages throughout
the day, many of which arrive via confusing or inscrutable e-mails.
Which of the following do you think is more likely to be effective?

An endless chain of baffling, jargon-laden e-mails

Simple, clear, and honest conversations either in person or via
a truly collaborative tool

For a long time now, people have denounced the use of buzzwords when plain English would suffice. Yet jargon persists. The
critics are helpless against words like incent. Beyond that, business
folks turn nouns into verbs. In reality, theyre only bloviating. (The

Introduction

now commonplace adoptions of use case* and price point are real pet
peeves of mine.) They fail to consider the context of what theyre
saying, and they speak and write with zero regard for their audiences.
Second, you may believe that new times have always required new
words and phrases. This is true, but not to the same extent currently
exhibited. The verb to Google developed organically. Millions of
people quickly understood what it meant. But what about horrible
and contrived phrases such as Next-Generation Big Data Platform as a
Service? Can we honestly make the same case here?
If technology were a fleeting trend, then perhaps we could
excuse the growing use of jargon, the e-mail deluge, and bad business communication in general. Unfortunately, it isnt and we cant.
Technology is permeating every instance of our livesand not just in
the workplace. The Internet of Things is arriving as we speak. Every
company is becoming a tech company; some of them just havent
realized it yet. Few employees work in tech-free zones.

From Pencils to WhatsApp: A Little History Lesson

Im no Renaissance man, but I fancy myself a student of history, particularly with respect to technology and language. The creative use
and misuse of language predates the modern-day corporation by
centuries. It is anything but a new phenomenon, and neither is our
complicated relationship between communication and technology.
Think about gadgets such as the computer, the smartphone, the
Kindle, and the iPad. Compare them with the clay tablet, the printing press, the pencil, the telegraph, the typewriter, and other critical innovations from previous centuries. The former contain much
more sophisticated technology than the latter, but the two groups
have more in common than many people realize. Every one of these
tools has faced highly influential detractors.
Dennis Baron makes this point in his impeccably researched 2009
book A Better Pencil: Readers, Writers, and the Digital Revolution. Baron
examines the craft of writing via a fascinating historical lens. As he writes:
*

Although many people currently use the two terms interchangeably, a use case is
not a synonym for use. Rather, the former is a formal software and system engineering term describing how users use systems to accomplish particular goals. A use case
defines the features to be implemented and the resolution of any errors that may be
encountered. See http://tinyurl.com/kg38mu7.
I used to speak Spanish fluently, and I still love the word esposas. It signifies both
wives and handcuffs. Its a fascinating double meaning.

Worlds Are Colliding

The World Wide Web wasnt the first innovation in communication to draw some initial skepticism. Writing itself was the target of one early critic. Plato warned that writing would weaken
memory, but he was more concerned that written wordsmere
shadows of speechcouldnt adequately represent meaning.
His objections paled as more and more people began to structure their lives around handwritten documents. Centuries later,
the innovative output of Gutenbergs printing press was faulted
for disrupting the natural, almost spiritual connection between
the writer and the page. Eventually, we got used to printing,
but Henry David Thoreau scorned the telegraph when it was
invented in 1840s because this technology for quickly transporting words across vast distances was useless for people who had
nothing to say to one another. The typewriter wasnt universally
embraced as a writing tool when it appeared in the 1870s because
its texts were impersonal, it weakened handwriting skills, and it
made too much noise. And computers, now the writers tool of
choice, are still blamed by skeptics for a variety of ills, including
destroying the English language, slowing down the writing process, speeding up writing to the point of recklessness, complicating it, trivializing it, and encouraging people to write who may,
as Thoreau might put it, have nothing to say.

I hope to avoid the latter criticism in this book.

It turns out that, at least conceptually, writing with a pencil has
a great deal in common with texting on a smartphone. Each has
profound effects on how people process information and how they
communicate with one another.

Book Overview and Outline

I like to think that business books, like their fictional counterparts,
take their readers on a journey of sorts. If thats true, then it makes
sense to provide a map. This section answers the following questions:

Who should go?

Do I need to bring anything?
Where are we going?
How will we get there?
Who will benefit the most from this trip?
What can I expect to learn along the way?

Introduction

Central Premise of Book

The central premise of Message Not Received is quite simple and can
be stated in six words:
Most business communication simply doesnt work.

Because of raging technological change, the need to send clear,

effective messages has never been more pronounced. All else being
equal, the organizations and individuals that communicate well will
do better than those that dont.
Fair enough, but how do we achieve this laudable goal? How do
we maximize the chances that our professional messages are truly
received and understood? At a high level, we must do two things.
First, as a general rule, we need to use simpler language in our business communications as much as possible. Second, we need to wean
ourselves from our e-mail modus operandi and related addiction.
In its place, we need to adopt new, truly collaborative tools where
appropriate.
This last part is just as crucial as the first. I am no anarchist. Message Not Received does not advocate an Edward Snowdenlike approach
to business communications. Some things ought to remain private,
although the line between the two is shifting. Embracing transparency and communitiesor ecosystems, if you likemay confer
major potential benefits. Recent events demonstrate the outright
trendiness of sharing and more open business practices. For example, consider Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, a manufacturer of highperformance electric sports cars. In June 2014, Musk announced a
patent pledge on his companys blog making his companys intellectual property (IP) freely available.* Tesla will not initiate lawsuits
against anyone who in good faith wants to use its technology to
develop electric vehicles. In Musks view, the benefits of such a risky
gambit exceeded their costs.
The announcement was certainly newsworthy, but Musk is hardly
the only chief executive singing that tune these days. Chris Anderson is
the former Wired editor-in-chief, a best-selling author, and the current
*

For more, see http://tinyurl.com/musk-x-pledge.

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Worlds Are Colliding

head of DIYDrones. Anderson believes that community-driven companies will always win.* His company is pioneering tremendous
innovation via open-source hardware. For his part, WordPress CEO
Matt Mullenweg describes betting on the community as the difference between long-term thinking and short-term thinking.
By espousing transparency and platform thinking, Musk,
Anderson, Mullenweg, and hundreds of other CEOs are effectively
betting that their companies will ultimately gain more than they
surrender. Silly is the organization, however, that arbitrarily posts
highly sensitive documents for all to see. Examples include IP,
financial statements (if the company is privately held), proprietary
software code, and employee performance reviews, salaries, and
succession plans. Discretion, tact, privacy, and basic common sense
still matter and always will. Some things have remained constant.
At the same time, many things have changed. In a nutshell,
its high time for many organizations and people to reevaluate
their internal and external business communications. Aside from
avoiding buzzwords and confusing language, Message Not Received
argues that e-mail should not represent the default or sole means
of sending messages and exchanging information. Better tools
have been available for years, and this book introduces many of
them, as well as a few of the companies that are reaping their
considerable benefits.
Disclaimers

The central premise of Message Not Received is simple yet ambitious.

Before continuing, several disclaimers are in order. Let me briefly
explain what this book does not attempt to do.
Neither Necessary Nor Sufficient: No Guarantees The prolific management

author Tom Peters once wrote, Communication is everyones

panacea for everything. I couldnt agree more. Theres something
inherently reassuring about getting everyone on the same page.
Unfortunately, a bad idea is still a bad idea, even if everyone perfectly understands it. Coca-Colas 1985 launch of New Coke was an
unmitigated disaster. A better communications strategy would not
have changed its fate.
*

Watch the whole interview at http://tinyurl.com/anderson-comm-win.

Introduction

11

Make no mistake: Clear, concise, timely, and context-appropriate

communication is more important than ever. At the same time,
though, it guarantees absolutely nothing in business. Communicating well at work is neither necessary nor sufficient for a successful
outcome. Consider the following:

An employee completely understands her managers clearly

defined expectations. Despite her best intentions, for whatever reason, she still does not meet his goals.
An employee misinterprets his managers vague or even undeclared directions and still somehow knocks his socks off.
A developer knows her client well enough that, when he says
one thing, she recognizes that he really means something else
entirely.
A middle manager has learned to ignore his VPs demands to
immediately implement the latest shiny new thing. He knows
that his VP will move on to another toy next week.
A CEO totally grasps what a software vendor is trying to sell to
his organization. Furthermore, he fully believes in the benefits
and/or return on investment (ROI) of the product. Despite
all of this, he still does not pull the trigger.
A company president completely misconstrues what a software vendor has sold to her organization. Despite this inauspicious beginning, two years later, the new application is wildly
successful.

Each of these scenarios is possible. Theres a world of difference

between possible and probable, though. These situations are the exceptions that prove the rule. All else being equal, a better message is
more likely to yield better business results. This book stops short of
making unrealistic promises. Effective messages in and of themselves
wont ensure a successful project, partnership, merger, acquisition,
product launch, new hire, marketing campaign, or sale. All sorts of
internal and external variables can derail even the most promising
prospects.
Intentional Omissions: Nonverbal Communication, Psychology, and Personality Types Allow

me to state the obvious: To a significant degree, our choice of words

determines howand whetherour audiences ultimately receive
our messages. We shouldnt forget, however, that nonverbal factors

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Worlds Are Colliding

are often just as important, if not more so. These include our facial
expressions, gestures, body language, posture, and paralinguistics
(e.g., tone of voice, loudness, inflection, and pitch). It would be irresponsible to dismiss the importance of nonverbal communication.
This meaty topic is well beyond my realm of expertise. As such, it lies
outside of the scope of this book. (If youre curious about the subject, The Definitive Book of Body Language, by Barbara Pease, is worth
checking out.)
Next, Message Not Received is not a psychology book. It does not
examine the most effective ways to communicate to disparate personality types. You wont find any overt references to psychometric
questionnaires. No Myers-Briggs Type Indicators.* It also ignores
the differences between introverts and extroverts. (If youre curious
about this subject, check out Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World
That Cant Stop Talking, by Susan Cain.)
Tone Message Not Received delves into our challenges with business
communications (hence the subtitle). As I wrote in Why New Systems Fail, failure teaches us a great deal. Business books like Good
to Great by Jim Collins suffer from relying exclusively on successful
examplesor at least, companies that had been successful at certain
points. That is never wise. As you know from reading the Preface,
this book cites examples of how not to communicate but does not
harp on negativity. Message Not Received is ultimately a positive book
with a tone that is intended to be more instructive than paternalistic or snippy. You will not find any criticisms of honest grammatical
errors and typos.
Who Should Read This Book?

Its the understandable, even necessary conceit of all nonfiction

authors: Everyone should read our books! Who wouldnt benefit
from our sage advice, insightful observations, profound theories,
and predictions on the future? This is especially true with management gurus. Alas, Message Not Received is guilty of this as well. Im
*

In essence, the theory proposes that a great deal of ostensibly random variation in
human behavior is actually quite orderly and consistent. It stems from basic differences in the ways individuals prefer to use our perception and judgment.

Introduction

13

hard-pressed to think of any professionals who wouldnt benefit from

improving their communications skills.
In any given week, I meet and talk to people who will soon be
doing one or more of the following:

Asking an angel investor or venture capitalist for money

Interviewing for a new job
Talking to their staff or subordinates about technology and
change
Trying to sell their companies software or consulting services
Explaining a complicated problem to their tech-challenged
managers
Addressing hundreds of people at a meeting or a conference

These people are all trying to achieve different things. Yet, paradoxically, they all have the same fundamental objective: to effectively
communicate to their audiences. They need to ensure that their
messages are received. Whats more, the quality of their communications will dramatically impact whether they ultimately prosper in
their professional endeavors.
Lamentably, far too many people think that successful business
communication necessitates using buzzwords, jargon, and invented
words. It doesnt. (In addition, they often choose the wrong medium
for their communications [e-mail].) Think about talented colleagues
and acquaintances with demonstrable skill and intelligence. Despite
these assets, many people cant communicate well to a single layperson, let alone a group of them, and this is a big problem. As I learned
a long time ago, skill and intelligence only get you so far.
Whether in public or behind closed doors, business communication has never been more essential. The tsunami of technology permeating our lives (a topic that Chapter 1 fully explores) has made
simple, effective, and clear communication an extremely valuable
currency for nearly everyone.
A Holistic Methodology

As of this writing, Amazon sells nearly 3,600 books under the general umbrella of business communication.* Im an avid reader,
* See

http://tinyurl.com/bcbooks2.

14

Worlds Are Colliding

but I cant claim to have read even 5 percent of them. Many of

the more popular texts here seem to examine the topic in great
depth but in relative vacuums. They appear to be very deep but
not terribly wide. This isnt a criticism. In fact, many of my favorite
nonfiction books dont stray too far from one relatively provincial
subject.
On several levels, this book takes a decidedly different, more
holistic approach. First, it fuses four highly intertwined fields: business, technology, language, and communication. At least for me,
analyzing one of these subjects necessitates examining the other
three. With each one, I have attempted to strike an appropriate balance between breadth and depth.
Second, as with my other books, Message Not Received combines
theory and practice. When done right, the two serve as valuable complements. To the extent necessary, business texts generally benefit
from sound scientific, academic, and sociological underpinnings.*
By way of contrast, Seth Godintype manifestos are occasionally
inspirational, but they are typically devoid of sourcing, proper
research, and outside opinions. As a result, they are usually less valuable and informative.
Next, to state the obvious, our choice of words definitely matters if we want our messages to be received. Still, Message Not Received
does not focus exclusively on semantics; that would be grossly inadequate. What we say while we are on the clock is often as important
as how we say it, if not more so. More than 50 years after he wrote
them, Marshall McLuhans iconic words continue to ring true: The
medium is the message.
Fusing Data with Stories

Generally speaking, I believe in the power of data. Along these lines,

this book cites large-scale studies conducted by McKinsey, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and many other respected institutions. Collectively, this research sheds much-needed light on the
problem with business communications, gives it context, and manifests the enormity of the issue.
*

Notable exceptions include company histories and biographies.

I challenge you to find another five-word sentence that has spawned so much
intense debate and analysis. See http://tinyurl.com/3ym58l.

Introduction

15

This type of information by itself, though, often fails to

expose the problem, much less drive the point home. Quantitative data does not always represent the best way to make an argument. Sometimes a more qualitative approach trumps a purely
quantitative one. For a multitude of reasons, this is one of those
circumstances.
First, its often difficult to pinpointand find reliable data on
things like:

The definitive moment at which poor communications tipped

a project, organization, or group of employees for the worse
The precise effect of poor communications on lost sales,
employee morale, and the like
How much time and money could be saved from better communications on any given task or project

Second, relying exclusively or even predominantly on statistics

can be a bit lacking, impersonal, and even boring. They often fail to
resonate with us as much as good yarns do. Next, stories actually are
data. As Fred Shapiro, editor of The Yale Dictionary of Quotations, once
wrote, The plural of anecdote is data.
Finally, to quote Mark Twain, There are lies, damned lies, and
statistics. When it comes to business and technology, I tend to be a
bit suspicious of most claims and promises. Throughout this book, I
intentionally avoid making proclamations such as:

Clear communication will decrease employee turnover by 12

percent.
Adopting a new collaboration tool will double employee
productivity.
By sending fewer e-mails, your colleagues will be 23 percent
less likely to tase you.

In any given circumstance, those predictions may turn out to be

true. Still, an organization should never be mistaken for a chemistry lab. Its impossible to hold all other factors constant; we cant
isolate cause and effect. Dont let anyone ever tell you any different. (See Consultants, MBAs, and the Management Scientists in
Chapter 4.)

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Worlds Are Colliding

No Man Is an Island: Looking Outward

At a high level, employees can be broken into two simple groups:

Group A: People who remain at one company for a long time
(an increasingly rare feat these days)
Group B: People who regularly bounce around, usually by their
choice. Examples include consultants, independent contractors, talk show host Keith Olbermann,* job-hoppers, freelancers, temps, and hired guns.
Those in Group A certainly garner a deep and valuable understanding of one companys processes, culture, politics, and inner workings.
On the other hand, those who stay in the same place for ten years or
more may become institutionalized. People in Group B benefit from
their exposure to different corporate environments. They tend to see
a wider array of situations than people in Group A do, even when they
stay within a relatively narrow field or industry. If hired, they bring with
them knowledge of other organizations best practices. That is usually true, but theres a flip side to that coin. Those who move around
too often and too quickly do so at their own potential peril. Recruiters
and hiring managers may pass on them, questioning Group Bs ability
to hold a steady job. To be fair, this stigma has largely eroded over the
past 15 years, especially in white-hot technology positions.
Like most current and former consultants, I put myself squarely
in Group B. After several decades of working in probably more than
100 different environs, I have seen more than my fair share of effective and ineffective messages. The most interesting and instructive
personal anecdotes have made their way into the following pages.
Still, I am no narcissist. No one can possibly know everything
about any of the four subjects at the center of this book: technology, language, business, and communications. Moreover, Message Not
Received is hardly the first text about business communications. On
the contrary, an enormous amount of work has been done in this
field long before I started writing this book.
*

On his ESPN show Olbermann in 2014, the eponymous host mocked himself by
holding a tournament of sorts. He presented a bracket of his 64 jobs similar to that
of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Yes, the 55-year-old Olbermann has held that
many jobs over his career if you include college internships.
I usually avoid this term at all costs. Ill feel better by putting it in quotes.

Introduction

17

The opinions, theories, and professional experiences of people I

respect inform much of my own thinkingand have for a long time.
(No man is an island, as the poet John Donne wrote nearly five
centuries ago.) The same holds true with my writing. Whatever their
form, the contributions of othersattributed, of courseenrich
business books. To this end, Message Not Received includes a great deal
of insightful advice, opinions, and examples from people with varied
backgrounds. Youll read plenty of different viewpoints, relevant suggestions, and thought-provoking material from people not named
Phil Simon, and this text is better for it.
Plan of Attack

Message Not Received consists of four parts. The first, Worlds Are Colliding starts with an overview of the book. It then explains where we
are, recapping recent technological, societal, and business developments and trends. It concludes by examining one of the key effects
of these trends as it relates to business communication.
Part II is titled Didnt You Get That Memo? Why We Dont Communicate Good at Work. It delves into business communication and
its two main problems.* It examines the increasing use of buzzwords,
the evolution of e-mail, and our continued dependence on it. It
concludes by describing some of the most inimical consequences of
poor business communication.
Part III, Message Received, focuses on solutions. It offers some
general principles to increase the chances that our audiences will
receive our messages. It then provides some specific communications tips around language and context before moving on to the
case studies. Youll meet some fascinating companies that excel at
communication and collaboration.
The book concludes with Part IV, What Now?, in which I offer
some final thoughts on business communication and how we can
effect change in our jobs.

My Communication Bona Fides

Its a bit ironic that Ive written a book about effective business communication. Before concluding this chapter, allow me a moment of
personal reflection.
*

This is an intentional error.

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Worlds Are Colliding

My Personal Communications Journey

By way of background, communication wasnt my strong suit early in my
career. In fact, in my mid-twenties, my personal skills needed major work. I
always tried to avoid using jargon, but my messages were often not effectively
received. Sometimes I would inadvertently ignore the backgrounds of my audience. I sent far too much e-mail. In general, Id even say that I was a bit off.
I took constructive performance-review feedback to heart, changed my
behavior, and read a few self-help and anger-management books. Dale Carnegies
classic How to Win Friends and Influence People really opened my eyes.
Beyond that, I thought long and hard about how I communicated. I reflected
on my time at Cornell University from 1995 to 1997. I had taught myself Spanish
after taking three years of it in high school. I realized that I could neither construct nor comprehend very involved and complicated sentences en espaol.
Why not speak as simply as possible in both languages?
A light bulb went on.
This story has a happy ending. By 2002, my communication and people
skills had begun to catch up with my technical skills. As I approached my fiveyear anniversary as a systems consultant, I had started coming into my own. I
noticed that my clients were responding better to my suggestions. I found natural ways to infuse humor into tense situations. Arguments were less frequent
and seemed less contentious, with a few notable exceptions. I remember realizing something that, in hindsight, now seems quite obvious:
When it comes to communication, one size does not fit all.
Alternatively stated, different people often need to hear the same message
in very different ways. (Ill offer several personal stories that illustrate this point
throughout this book.)
Even now I dont consider myself to be the worlds best communicator,
but Ive made considerable strides. Heaven help me if I couldnt get my message across effectively most of the time. Today I make my living as a professional writer and speaker. When I meet people who have read my books, they
often tell me that I write like I talk. More than a few times someone has said to
me, I can tell you didnt hire a ghostwriter. I explain myself clearly, especially
when discussing technology trends. Evidently, this skill is in short supply these
days.
These are, however, slightly mixed blessings. Having attended more conferences than I can count over my careerand spoken at many of themIve
noticed that most public speakers arent terribly engaging. (Want proof? At
your next event, just look at how many attendees are looking down at their
smartphones, laptops, and tablets. Now count how many are looking up at the
speaker.) And this goes double when the speaker is talking about business,
technology, and/or data.

Introduction

19

Next
Chapter 1 looks at the deluge of technology affecting seemingly
every aspect of our lives. Yes, business communication has always
been important. It is often the difference between success and failure. Sending effective messages is even more critical today, however,
because our world has become noisier, busier, faster, and more chaotic than ever.
How hectic?
Youre about to find out.