notes #19: on communicating effectively

This is the first time I missed a newsletter since I’ve been publishing every week on Wednesdays at the start of 2025.

So far, this newsletter has been written for myself, and acts more as a platform for me to reflect on what I’ve done and what I’ve learnt. And more importantly, to keep me consistent on long-term tasks that could create compounding value.

In the past few weeks, I’ve been changing up the format to see what could work better, but I realised that I still prefer it having no structure and just writing about what fascinated me then.

On communicating effectively

Being able to share what’s on your mind is one of the most important things you can do. As some wise men have said before: if you have the greatest ideas in the world but don’t know how to share it, how will anyone know about it?

In my view, there are two main qualities of effective communication.

The first is clarity: are you saying what you mean and mean what you say?

• Using simple terms

• Writing in straightforward sentences or pointers

• Paragraphing or organising readably

• Being precise

• Giving examples

The second is relevance: what is your rationale for communicating to the particular person?

• Highlight the actionable or impact

• Providing the required context

If you think about it, clarity and relevance are essentially the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of communication — which is all you really need.

Sometimes, however, you may need to add a human element to make your delivery more receptive — and also build a relationship with the audience. This could come in the form of:

• Showing understanding of the audience’s concerns, difficulties or constraints

• Getting to know the audience personally

• Styling the text in a way that appeals to the audience

Proofreading

Your best bet is always to put yourself in your recipient’s shoes and try to imagine what could be misunderstood when you read your own writing.

Remember that it doesn’t have to always be perfect and clarifications can take place afterwards - the key idea here is to make the effort to be clear and relevant (instead of writing and then forgetting).

And that’s it for today. Check out my weekly notes for relevant books I have read on this topic.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers,
Joesurf

🧠 Weekly Notes

📖 Book [8/10] — Smart Brevity by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz

• Brevity = Confidence: Long writing often signals unclear thinking. Clarity, not word count, is what earns attention.

• The Smart Brevity Formula: Start with a bold headline → strong lead → short “why it matters” → optional deeper context. Works across emails, presentations, social posts.

• Respect the Reader’s Time: The best communicators simplify, prioritize, and make their message scannable.

• Writing is Thinking: Editing down to what matters forces better thinking—and more persuasive communication.

Top Quotes:

• “Brevity is confidence. Length is fear.”

• “Stop blowing words and time.”

📖 Book [8/10] — Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg

• Four-Part Framework: Observe without judgment → express feelings → identify unmet needs → make a clear request.

• Feelings Aren’t Caused by Others: What someone says may trigger emotion—but the root cause is within us, often tied to an unmet need.

• Judgments = Masked Needs: Criticism is often a clumsy way of expressing a deeper need. Learning to translate judgments into needs leads to better understanding.

• Empathy Before Solutions: Listening to someone’s feelings and needs builds trust before any attempt to fix the situation.

Top Quotes:

• “What others say and do may be the stimulus, but never the cause, of our feelings.”

• “Judgments of others are alienated expressions of our own unmet needs.”

• “NVC helps us connect with each other and ourselves in a way that allows our natural compassion to flourish.”