{"id":4415,"date":"2018-01-15T13:15:40","date_gmt":"2018-01-15T20:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/kermitzarleyblog\/?p=4415"},"modified":"2018-01-15T13:15:40","modified_gmt":"2018-01-15T20:15:40","slug":"be-understood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kermitzarleyblog\/2018\/01\/be-understood\/","title":{"rendered":"Be Understood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"WordsArePower\"<\/a>As a writer, I\u2019m always trying to improve my ability to communicate. I believe it is the responsibility of the speaker and writer to be understood.<\/p>\n

As a member of the Inventor\u2019s Association of Arizona, I recently attended one of its meetings to listen to speaker Alan Tarr. He is a former Madison Avenue copywriter and now a consultant to businesses in marketing their products. Mr. Tarr owns his own business, called Money Words Marketing. His speech topic for that day was, \u201cCreating Sell Sheets that Really Work.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Sell Sheet, often called a One Page, is common in many businesses. Nowhere are the tools of communication more important for displaying the written word than in the crafting of a Sell Sheet or a one-page Query Letter.<\/p>\n

During Alan\u2019s speech, he quoted some famous people about how to communicate effectively. The following are some of his quotes that I liked and had never heard:<\/p>\n

U.S. President Thomas Jefferson: \u201cThe most valuable of talents is in using one word for two.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. President William Taft: \u201cDon\u2019t write so you can be understood; write so you can\u2019t be misunderstood.\u201d<\/p>\n

William Faulkner said of Ernest Hemingway: \u201cHe has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albert Einstein: \u201cIf you can\u2019t explain something simply, you don\u2019t know it well enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

I would like to add some sayings to this list from wise King Solomon in the Bible:<\/p>\n

\u201cLet your words be few\u2026. The fool multiplies words\u201d (Ecclesiastes 5.2; 10.14 NASB)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more the words the less the meaning\u201d (Ecclesiastes 6.11 NIV).<\/p>\n

\u201cDo not take seriously all words which are spoken\u201d (Ecclesiastes 7.21 NASB).<\/p>\n

Probably the most common advice about communicating on the written page is this: \u201cwrite like you talk.\u201d That works with a lot of literary genres, but not all. Some subjects are very complicated, so that they need to be articulated with learned jargon just to save time and words. But it\u2019s best to avoid uncommon words, if possible, when speaking to people who are unfamiliar with a subject. And highfaluting, pretentious words by all means should be avoided. A simple rule, here, is, \u201cexpress, don\u2019t impress.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JesusTeaching\"<\/a>I believe the greatest communicator of all time was Jesus of Nazareth. His constant object was to communicate life truths\u2013often about the kingdom of God and how to enter it\u2013in a manner that could be easily understood and remembered by all kinds of listeners. He often did it by using parables. They are fictitious stories about life which usually end with an ethical point.<\/p>\n

According to the New Testament synoptic gospels\u2013Matthew, Mark, and Luke\u2013Jesus sometimes would say, \u201cThe kingdom of God is like,\u201d and then he would tell a short story about, for example, a woman losing and finding a coin, a farmer sowing good seeds and up sprung weeds among the wheat, or a merchant finding an expensive pearl. All of these were images that Jesus\u2019 listeners could picture in their minds. Most people back then were illiterate, so that parables were the best form of education for them. But heh, parables still work today in our smart, fast-paced age. Jesus was the Master-Teacher who knew how to make himself understood, whether then or now.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a writer, I\u2019m always trying to improve my ability to communicate. I believe it is the responsibility of the speaker and writer to be understood. As a member of the Inventor\u2019s Association of Arizona, I recently attended one of its meetings to listen to speaker Alan Tarr. He is a former Madison Avenue copywriter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1477,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[3196,3197,3198],"class_list":["post-4415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-living","tag-alan-tarr","tag-communication","tag-jesus-master-teacher"],"yoast_head":"\nBe Understood<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As a writer, I'm always trying to improve my ability to communicate. I believe it is the responsibility of the speaker and writer to be understood. 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