5 ms·

The specific example is indeed not that great in terms of communicating clearly, given how it begs an obvious, if nonessential question. Works well as click bai

by brazzy 3y ago

The specific example is indeed not that great in terms of communicating clearly, given how it begs an obvious, if nonessential question. Works well as click bait, of course. But the basic idea is sound and useful. Putting the most important fact first makes it much easier for the audience to understand the context and explanations that follow, and stop you when you're going on a tangent. A problem that I see very often in communication is that people start out by giving long-winded context, and I'm left thinking "what is the point of telling me this?", unable to judge which of it is important and relevant to me.

deleted 3y ago
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Brian_K_White 3y ago
That most significant byte first is only good in the context that the receiver already knows what they are expecting and waiting for. It's perhaps good update in an exising communication. It's not good communication in general or when opening a new context.
- Brian_K_White 3y ago
  Though, maybe not. Opening a new context still wants some kind of summary opener. If your message is short, you might just say it. But if your message is even slightly long, you probably start with a heads up what the overall gist and point will be. "I have a question." rather than just the question. Or "Accounting just told us we have to..." and then all the stuff Accounting said and what you have do do about it. Are those openers the most significant bit or the filler? Definitely "I'm OK" or "You have to turn in your laptop." is absolutely the wrong way to start. It's even like going out of your way to find the worst possible choice out of all the bits in a particular situation. Random order would be better. So maybe it's not wrong to start with the most important part, but the definition of most important part is apparently up for grabs.
marcosdumay 3y ago
Put the conclusion first and people will assume the context, stop reading, and blame all of their assumptions on you. Put the context first and people will assume the conclusion, stop reading, and blame all of their assumptions on you. It's just a matter of deciding what is worse.
thrawa8387336 3y ago
This is what consultants get taught when communicating to executives. Start by your conclusion/most important idea then support it
- oxygen_crisis 3y ago
  Even in lower-stakes communication it's a good practice, I figured this out early in my career when I was doing tech support. In e-mails, I noticed a lot of customers didn't register much beyond the first couple sentences. Or they would react to some point of curiosity or contention about the explanation without taking the steps forward or providing the information we were asking for. In real-time conversations it meant the machines were idle during the explanation of why we were going to do the next step, when often there would be plenty of time to explain why while we were in the process. (In the days of dial-up and RAM measured in megs instead of gigs, even "open a browser and go to our website" could take a minute) It's a huge time-saver. You want that little excerpt in a pop-up mail notification to have the call to action displayed. Especially when you need them to take ten seconds to provide some information. Seeing the call to action immediately might bump you up in their multitasking queue whereas they're more likely to sit on it if they see the opening sentence of some exposition pop up.

by brazzy 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

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Brian_K_White 3y ago

That most significant byte first is only good in the context that the receiver already knows what they are expecting and waiting for. It's perhaps good update in an exising communication. It's not good communication in general or when opening a new context.

Brian_K_White 3y ago
Though, maybe not. Opening a new context still wants some kind of summary opener. If your message is short, you might just say it. But if your message is even slightly long, you probably start with a heads up what the overall gist and point will be. "I have a question." rather than just the question. Or "Accounting just told us we have to..." and then all the stuff Accounting said and what you have do do about it. Are those openers the most significant bit or the filler? Definitely "I'm OK" or "You have to turn in your laptop." is absolutely the wrong way to start. It's even like going out of your way to find the worst possible choice out of all the bits in a particular situation. Random order would be better. So maybe it's not wrong to start with the most important part, but the definition of most important part is apparently up for grabs.

marcosdumay 3y ago

Put the conclusion first and people will assume the context, stop reading, and blame all of their assumptions on you. Put the context first and people will assume the conclusion, stop reading, and blame all of their assumptions on you. It's just a matter of deciding what is worse.

thrawa8387336 3y ago

This is what consultants get taught when communicating to executives. Start by your conclusion/most important idea then support it

oxygen_crisis 3y ago
Even in lower-stakes communication it's a good practice, I figured this out early in my career when I was doing tech support. In e-mails, I noticed a lot of customers didn't register much beyond the first couple sentences. Or they would react to some point of curiosity or contention about the explanation without taking the steps forward or providing the information we were asking for. In real-time conversations it meant the machines were idle during the explanation of why we were going to do the next step, when often there would be plenty of time to explain why while we were in the process. (In the days of dial-up and RAM measured in megs instead of gigs, even "open a browser and go to our website" could take a minute) It's a huge time-saver. You want that little excerpt in a pop-up mail notification to have the call to action displayed. Especially when you need them to take ten seconds to provide some information. Seeing the call to action immediately might bump you up in their multitasking queue whereas they're more likely to sit on it if they see the opening sentence of some exposition pop up.