Broadcasting on different frequencies

How do we reach people who receive information differently?

It’s a constant source of existential second-guessing, for me at least. Yesterday (Wednesday), I ran a session on assessing investment risk for the investment teams and compliance folks at a large sovereign wealth fund. As I write this (on Tuesday), I have yet to meet the audience (potentially hundreds). I don’t know how they like to learn (or engage with information). The image below is a very rough approximation of how we learn. So, how should one best balance visual, audio, and kinesthetic (by doing) learners? 65% visual, 30% talking, and 5% practicing doesn’t help much. That would create needless artificiality.

Perhaps the solution is to think beyond the session alone. Now, when I speak publicly, I’ll have backup resources catering to those different audiences. This approach also helps arrest the Forgetting Curve (forgetting 90% of what we learn within 1 month without reminders.

It’s the same challenge when the output is written. We need to include signposts, including those for:

🤔 Skim-readers: bold, bullets, colours, headers, etc.

🤔 Data devourers: numbers, stats, all highlighted.

🤔 Visual types: graphics, imagery, page design.

🤔 Testers: checklists, toolkits, boxes, etc.

Gathering feedback is essential here. For instance, I’m learning that many investors like actions to fit onto one page, with colour (🚦) coding. Third-sector organisations, by contrast, value the appendixes and raw data (many are, by definition, researchers).

One of my major frustrations in previous roles was the lack of knowledge management. Trying to find something, anything, can sap precious minutes in already frantic days. Now, every project, post, article, speaking session, etc., is analysed. Lessons, repeatable content, and summaries are tagged and logged. This discipline-driven-by-laziness takes a while to bear fruit, but it’s worth it.

Back to this session tomorrow. After reviewing the library of past content, we drafted three new documents to augment the existing roster.

💡 One digs deep into the 10-15 questions that have unlocked hundreds of truths in risk assessment and due diligence (surveys, forms, and interviews).

💡 Another guide picks out common ways we give ourselves away; behavioural analysis and deception detection have been staggeringly useful during interviews with prospective investment management teams.

💡 The final resource summarises the solutions to the six most recurrent compliance challenges for investees (fraud, conflicts of interest, gifts and hospitality, etc.).

I’ve no idea how these labours of Canva-love will be received. However, experience suggests that when speaking to varied audiences, we need to be able to broadcast across different frequencies (quickly) simultaneously. We may still fail to resonate, but that, too, becomes usable data!

If those resources sound helpful, you know where to find me.