The map is not the territory!

"Neanderthals mating with humans!"  was a headline in last Sunday's  New York Times 
And instantly my mind was reacting.  With an amazing sudden grasp of anthropology I was explaining to myself the origins of man... and picturing the different evolutionary examples that I regularly see at the local shopping centre.

Of course my assumptions on evolution were flawed..if not to say rather facile. As was my reading of the headline. It said something quite different.
But I'm going to forgive myself... because we all do it.  We read a headline or hear a sound-bite and we get it all around our ears...rather than accurately into the grey matter between them!
Often that is down to ambiguity in the headlines and here are some great examples of that..
Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft!
Plane Too Close to Ground, Crash Probe Told
Prostitutes Appeal to Pope
Sex Education Delayed, Teachers Request Training
And a lot of miscommunication can be blamed on the ambiguities of the English language. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the 500 words used most in the English language each have an average of 23 different meanings!
As a quick example of this ask yourself what does the word mean mean?
Another factor is how in recent times we have evolved different ways of absorbing and sharing news and information. When I was a kid we poured over the Newspapers, sat engrossed by the Radio or TV or was entertained by the wonderful British Pathe News at the cinema. And we shared it around on the telephone...but mostly face to face.
Today of course many of us are satisfied with the "bits" of news we see on-line. And we share it around through emails....posts on Facebook...IM's ...or text messages. And with a language that is cryptic going on coded!
One particular concern I have in all this is...the trend towards e pitching. The "dumbing down" of business presentations or proposal pitches into a click of the [send] button as another pitch document is e-mailed to a prospect!! Accompanied by the hope that the prospect team get our meaning.... and if they don't that the 100 Powerpoint slides we created will impress them and do it for us!!
I'm often reminded by a pal of the three rules of selling:
Talk to the People. Talk to the People. Talk to the People. 

And it's not just because of media constrictions and ambiguity that we should. It is also because as individuals we will always see things differently! One of the Presuppositions of NLP is "The Map is not the Territory!" Meaning that we each have a perception of the world and life (our map) that is based on our own personal beliefs, values, emotions, experiences....and this perception will differ from reality. 

So to make sure that your meaning is understood....and with a slight para-phrase of the "3 rules"
Rule 1: Get in front of the people.
Rule 2: Remember that they each have their own map.
Rule 3: Talk with them as individuals...not at them as a group.
Rule 4: Question them....understand their map... and walk it! 

For more tips and advice on persuasive presentation please visit us at http://www.persuadability.co.uk/