12.3 Preparing to Communicate
Key Takeaways
- The five core principles of communication form the acronym FOCUS: focused, organized, clear, understanding, and supported.
- The seven steps for effective communication are analyze purpose and audience, research your topic, support your ideas, organize and outline, draft, edit, and fight for feedback and get approval.
- The first four of the seven steps lay the groundwork; steps five through seven turn the work into a well-prepared message.
- A communicator's purpose is to direct, inform, persuade, or inspire — and that intent determines the organizational pattern chosen.
- The three-part editing review covers the big picture and flow, then paragraph structure and organization, then sentences, phrases, words, and grammar.
Preparation Is the Point
AFH 1 states it directly: "Preparation is the most important aspect, and sometimes the time best spent, with regard to good communication." Being prepared shows audiences that you value their time as well as the topic, and enhances a speaker's confidence as well as their credibility.
The leadership tie-in is explicit: "Communicating intent and ideas so others understand the message and act on it is one of the primary qualities of leadership."
The success criterion is stricter than simple delivery: "for communication to be successful the audience must not only receive the message, but they must interpret the message the way the sender intended."
The FOCUS Principles
Five core principles, and the acronym is the giveaway.
| Principle | What AFH 1 requires |
|---|---|
| F — Focused | Understanding what the issue is, considering all aspects of the issue, and not straying from the issue. AFH 1's phrasing: "Address the issue, the whole issue, and nothing but the issue" |
| O — Organized | Presenting information in a logical, systematic manner. When information is not well organized, audiences become confused, impatient, or inattentive — and "the importance of your message may be lost to the audience if it is disorganized," even when the information is useful and relevant |
| C — Clear | Communicate with clarity and make each word count. Understand proper pronunciation and how to assemble and punctuate sentences. Clear communication often requires getting to the point |
| U — Understanding | Understand your audience and its expectations — their current knowledge, views, and level of interest, plus expectations of format and length of response, due date, level of formality, and any staffing requirements |
| S — Supported | Support your communication with information that substantiates your position but does not bring the audience to question your message. AFH 1's warning: "Nothing cripples a clearly written, properly punctuated paper quicker than implied data or a distorted argument" |
"Address the issue, the whole issue, and nothing but the issue" is quotable enough that the exam uses it verbatim.
The Seven Steps for Effective Communication
Drawn from DAFH 33-337, these steps are "fundamental to good speaking and writing skills." AFH 1 splits them explicitly: the first four steps lay the groundwork for the drafting process; steps five through seven are where the communication takes the form of a well-prepared message.
| Step | Focus | Key guidance |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Analyze Purpose and Audience | Be clear on your purpose and know and understand your audience | Ask whether your purpose is to direct, inform, persuade, or inspire, then design the message around that purpose statement |
| 2. Research Your Topic | Be resourceful and informed | There may be experts in your workplace to consult; consider what you know and what you don't know and gather pertinent and relevant data |
| 3. Support Your Ideas | Strengthen your communication | Reinforce your position through definitions, examples, testimony, or statistics, choosing evidence that is trustworthy, accurate, precise, relevant, and sufficient |
| 4. Organize and Outline | Be organized and purposeful | The pattern chosen depends greatly on whether your intent is to direct, inform, persuade, or inspire. Options include chronological (time-ordered) and sequential (step-by-step) |
| 5. Draft | Get your thoughts into a draft product | "It will not be perfect." Follow the basic structure of introduction, body, and conclusion, and ensure the message flows with transitions between main points |
| 6. Edit | Review with fresh eyes | Write early enough to take a break before editing. Reading your work out loud catches problems otherwise missed |
| 7. Fight for Feedback and Get Approval | Be receptive to feedback | "Allow your pride in authorship to be set aside and seek pride in others' willingness to review." Tell reviewers your strengths and weaknesses, why you selected them, and what areas you most need feedback on |
The three-part editing review in Step 6 is a sub-list the exam uses:
- Review for the big picture, main purpose, length, and flow of ideas
- Review for paragraph structure, clarity, organization of material, and supporting ideas
- Review sentences, phrases, words, grammar, and consider how the audience will perceive the message
Notice the direction — big picture first, words last. An option that reverses that order is wrong.
The four purposes — direct, inform, persuade, inspire — appear in both Step 1 and Step 4, which is exactly why AFH 1 says the organizational pattern follows from the purpose.
Job Interview Preparation
AFH 1 treats interviews as a communication skill. "One of the first steps in preparing for a job interview is carefully studying the job advertisement or position description so you understand the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities required."
Application documents may include recent performance reports, personnel documents, a resume, a job application, a curriculum vitae, a biography, letters of recommendation, a cover letter, and in some cases college transcripts — each tailored to highlight your knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the position.
Before the interview:
- "Put yourself in the mindset that everything the interviewer sees or hears from you is part of the interview. The interview begins the moment you pick up the phone or enter the property of the organization."
- Research the mission and history of the hiring organization — who the commander and senior enlisted members are, how large the organization is, and its mission and vision statements
- Interviewers expect candidates to ask intelligent, thoughtful questions; be prepared with at least one or two things to raise
- Review the documents you submitted and keep them nearby during the interview
Areas to concentrate on: problem-solving skills, thoughts on organizational transformation, team-building skills, support for the organization's priorities, your leadership philosophy, your ability to adapt and work in fast-paced environments, and decision-making abilities.
Questions AFH 1 says to be ready for: Why should I hire you? How soon can you report? How will this change affect your family? What do you see as one of your biggest challenges with a job like this? Where do you see yourself in two to three years? Are there any issues to prevent you from accepting or performing in this position?
The reciprocal point is easy to miss and easy to test: "not only are you interviewing for a job; you are interviewing the prospective employer to see if the job is right for you."
Closing and follow-up. Before the interview ends, provide one or two main points you want the interviewer to remember — your "walk-away points". A day or two after, it may be appropriate to send a short thank-you note expressing gratitude, restating interest, and clarifying anything you wish to address further.
Meetings
AFH 1 first frames the channel decision:
| If the message… | Use |
|---|---|
| Can be sent clearly and accurately in writing | E-mail — one of the quickest forms |
| Requires an immediate response or clarification or elaboration that could be lost in translation | The phone |
| Needs to involve multiple people or requires dialogue, sometimes recurring | A face-to-face conversation / meeting |
Meetings can be used to share information, solve problems, plan, brainstorm, or motivate. The test for whether a meeting is appropriate: consider if you want to address a group about information, advice, concerns, problem solving, or decision-making — meetings allow for cross-talk.
Once a meeting is the right choice, the steps are:
- Define the purpose of the meeting
- Decide who should be invited to participate
- Decide where and when it should occur
- Plan for capturing (recording) meeting information
- Send out an agenda so attendees can prepare
- Be flexible based on availability of attendees, information, or other considerations
Running the meeting requires a few simple rules — but not to the extent that meetings are rigid, predictable, and non-productive. AFH 1's four-part standard: start and stay on time, follow the agenda, understand group dynamics, and follow up with well formatted meeting minutes.
What do the letters in the FOCUS principles of effective communication stand for?
In the seven steps for effective communication, where does AFH 1 draw the line between groundwork and producing the message?
In Step 6, Edit, what order does AFH 1 recommend for reviewing a draft?