The theme of this week’s lecture is about Communicate to Influence. It highlights how clarity, credibility, and empathy in communication enable us to inspire action, shape perspectives, and drive meaningful change. If you are new, this is a continuation of the IT2900 Weekly Reflection series where I share my responses to the weekly assignments of this course.

The previous week’s blog post was titled “What Should Have Been Done Differently?”. You can take a look if you later find this article interesting.

Personal Takeaways

I found this week’s content about pausing to be interesting and insightful. I have always understood the importance of pausing, but these lessons reveal to me some more depth on that topic, as well as other common pitfalls in pausing that I should be aware of.

First, I learnt that there are around three functions of pausing. Using Steve Jobs’ example, we can see that pausing is not something random. It has a strategic purpose behind it and requires practice. Pausing serves these purposes:

1. Processing Time: We pause because we want to give time to people to process all the stuff we just said. This is crucial because sometimes we tend to speak too fast, and people need time to catch up. This also reduces information overload.
2. Emphasis: This is actually a consequence of the first point. When we suddenly pause, people are psychologically inclined to think about what they just heard, so they feel that the point is important. We should rather pause after an important point, not before.
3. Audience Interaction: Compared to other methods to interact with the audience, pausing is quite easy to do. Although it may not work in some situations, Steve Jobs demonstrates that he pauses and allows the audience to react or clap. This is a good way to make the audience feel involved.

To add on, I titled my post “Pause to Propel” because I think pausing is not just about stopping, but it is also about moving forward. When we go too fast in communication in general, not necessarily in giving speech, we may need to take more time in the future to explain things again, essentially slowing down the work of the organisation as a whole. Pausing is a way to make sure that we are all on the same page, and we can move forward together.

Lastly, it is important to note that pausing doesn’t work well for recorded videos, where there is no one physically listening to. This is because pausing is a form of interaction, and without interaction, pausing may just unnecessarily make the video longer.

Steve Jobs’ Speech Analysis

Persuasiveness

I feel that his response to the question is very well-structured and persuasive. The way he turns a hostile question into a vision-driven and emotional narrative is really impressive; not so many people can do that. I think this is a great example of a situation where the speaker would gain trust through their humility and honesty while still convincing audiences to support Apple’s future.

Analysing 6 Pillars of Communication

1. Context: He understood the situation well, he knew that the question was hostile, and he decided to not be defensive. He talks about Apple’s bigger picture, which I would say is really effective.
2. Connection: He connected with his audience by showing humility. He admitted mistakes and shared life experiences. The empathy and storytelling skills here make it even more effective than the previous point.
3. Credibility: He cited successful products that Apple made and also illustrated his point that starting with customer experience works.
4. Call to Action: He ended his speech with an implicit CTA. He wanted the audience to support his team and trust their visions, though they were not that sharply actionable.
5. Check-in: He adequately addresses the critic without being defensive. However, it was quite short by just acknowledging and moving on. He shifted quickly back to Apple’s direction and vision.
6. Conciseness: Although the other parts were generally good, this was his weakest area. The answer is relatively long and meandering. However, I think this is not a big issue because the other parts are strong enough to make up for it.

Analysis of My Recent Communication

Situation

I recently had an (online) meeting via Zoom with my CS2103T team to discuss the work on the next iteration of the project, following the milestone created by the course coordinator. The goal of this meeting was to assign tasks to each member and provide support and guidance for those who have less experience.

Intention of My Message

My intention was to make sure that everyone understood what they were supposed to do and to make sure everyone was comfortable with their own tasks (not too difficult for inexperienced members). I also want to make sure that everyone follows the workflow strictly since this is part of the course instruction.

Analysing 6 Pillars of Communication

1. Context: I think I did well in this part. I started the meeting by summarising what we have done so far and what we are going to do next. This helps set the context for everyone.
2. Connection: I think I could have done better in this part. I did not really connect with my team members emotionally. When I present the idea, I am not certain whether they are comfortable with it or not. One part is also because we did not meet in person enough. We only meet during hours of the class. The project also just starts this week.
3. Credibility: I think I did well in this part. I have experience working on similar projects, and I shared my experience with the team. I also made sure to back up my points with evidence from the course materials.
4. Call to Action: I think I did well in this part. I clearly assigned tasks to each member and made sure they understood what they were supposed to do. I also assign one person to review the other work to ensure that the workflow is followed strictly and that the quality of the work is maintained.
5. Check-in: I think I could have done better in this part. I did not really check in with my team members to see if they are comfortable with their tasks. I just assume that they are fine with it. I should have asked them if they have any questions or concerns.
6. Conciseness: I think I did well in this part. I kept my points clear and to the point. I did not ramble or go off-topic.