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The Clarity Code
Published about 10 hours ago • 4 min read
This week in the world’s #1 newsletter on leadership communication:
Talk So Clearly that People Assume You're a Genius
On the Show: The Secret to Being Memorable as a Leader
Book Recommendation: The Interviewer's Playbook
Talk So Clearly that People Assume You're a Genius
We all like to think that the best ideas win. But that’s not what happens in practice.
It's not how good your idea is. It's how clear it is.
At any one time, your idea competes with countless others. For an idea to spread and gain traction, it needs to be so clear that people get it immediately.
But most people ramble and as a result their ideas stall.
That’s why I’ve developed the Clarity Code — my system that's helped 300+ CEOs communicate even the most complex ideas.
Step 1: Avoid the 3 Clarity Killers
1/ Being boring
Yes, being boring is a clarity killer. Because boring is hard for the brain, so we stop paying attention. Interesting is easy for the brain.
Fix: ask “How can I make this more interesting?”
2/ Being literally hard to understand
This can be due to poor articulation, not speaking loud enough or bad audio. Especially in virtual meetings, many professionals are hard to understand because of bad mics.
Fix: A proper virtual set up. Practice clear articulation.
3/ Overloading the message
Maybe that’s because of muddled thinking. Or the curse of knowledge.
Some also wear complexity as a badge of honour.
Fix: ask “What is the One Thing I want my audience to take away?”
4/ Randomness
Smart people can understand complex ideas, but everyone struggles with randomness. Which leads me to the five clarity techniques.
Step 2: Apply the 5 Clarity Techniques
1/ Structure organizes your thinking
Structure is a win-win. It helps you organize your thinking and the audience, and makes it easy for the audience to follow you. Your words stop sounding random and instead feel organized. Try:
What – So What – Now What
Past – Present – Future
Problem – Solution – Benefit
2/ Stories create clarity
Stories are how we make sense of the world and pass on ideas. Some of my favorite frameworks:
Goal – Problem – Solution
Excite – Disturb – Assure
My Story – Our Story – The Future
3/ Analogies compare what people know with what they don't know
Instead of explaining something complex that people don't know, you compare it to something they already know and understand:
“Running a company without a budget is like driving a car without GPS in a city you don't know.”
4/ Examples make your idea tangible
Abstract words are hard to understand, but specific examples are easy to make sense of and remember.
5/ The Power of the Pause allows your audience to follow you
Clarity depends on what you say and how you say it. Slow down and pause before your key message.
Avoid monotonous monologue and embrace vocal variety.
If you apply these, you may already approach 10x clarity. But we can’t be sure unless we test our message.
Step 3: How Clear is your message? My Top 3 Clarity Tests
1/ The BBQ Test
Can you explain your idea to someone at a BBQ – and keep their attention?
Cheat code: No jargon. No slides. Just say what you mean.
2/ Headline test
Does your key message sound like a headline?
→ “Q3 Business Update.” – NO!
→ "Business Growing but Challenges Ahead." - YES!
3/ The Recording Test
What sounds good in your head or looks good on paper can sound clunky and stilted.
If you want to break through – in your team, your company, on social – you need to live in people’s heads. And to do that, you need to be quotable.
In a world drowning in noise, the people who win are the ones who are remembered.
In this week’s episode, I show youhow to become quotable and build a portfolio of quotes that people associate with you.
Creating a great quote has three steps: compression, contrast, and cadence.
Compression makes an idea short. Contrast makes it sharp. Like:
“If you are accountable, you don’t have to be accessible.” (Cal Newport)
“It’s not 10,000 hours. It’s 10,000 iterations.” (Naval Ravikant)
The brain loves contrast because it creates tension. If you can frame your idea as a choice, it becomes easier to remember.
Finally, a quote needs tosound right. Language that sticks has rhythm.
Short words and sentences, repetition, rhyme, melody, balance, rule of three – when it works, you feel it immediately.
Like one of my staples: “Be a spokesperson, not an answerperson.” I've been using it for 20 years, and clients regularly quote it back at me. That's how powerful a good quote is.
What quote do people associate with you? If you're not sure, check out this week's episode of Speak Like a CEO.
What's the single biggest determinant of a company's success? People.
Talent density has never mattered more. Every company wants to hire exceptional people. Yet most organizations still treat hiring as a task rather than a skill.
For many businesses, people account for the vast majority of costs. Yet hiring decisions are often based on gut feeling, first impressions, and unstructured interviews.
That's a remarkable contradiction.
As my friend Konstanty Sliwowski writes:
"How you hire defines who you hire. Who you hire defines the business you build."
Konstanty advises leaders on how to hire better. He’s conducted more than 12,000 interviews and made over 1,000 hires.
His approach comes down to three principles:
Know exactly what you're hiring for (most companies are under the illusion they do).
Ask questions that reveal real behaviour, not rehearsed answers.
Make decisions based on evidence, not impressions.
His book, Get to the Point, is a practical guide to doing exactly that, complete with interview frameworks, proven questions, and a hiring process that replaces intuition with consistency.
If you ever hire anyone for your team or business, this book is for you.
Have an inspired weekend,
Oliver
PS: Whenever you are ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: private coaching; my 10-person cohorts; transforming your organization’s communication.
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