您是否曾尝试向某人解释某事，但完全无法理解您的观点？您是否曾尝试为他人简化一个复杂的概念却一事无成？Supercommunicator的副标题是“解释复杂，让任何人都能理解”。("Explaining the complicated so anyone can understand.")因为我和很多人一样，有时在试图解释我理解的东西以便其他人也能理解时遇到麻烦，我很想看看这本书是否能教我如何更清楚地沟通。它达到了我的期望吗？让我们(Let)看看。
一个简单的指南……也许不是
作者一开始就吹嘘了好几页，这让我有点吃惊。我习惯于作者在附录或作者注释(Author's Notes)部分，甚至在书皮(book jacket)上以简介的形式(blurb form)列出他们的凭据。作为对他的书的介绍，弗兰克·J·皮特鲁查先生似乎(Mr. Frank J. Pietrucha)希望每个人都知道他的所有成就。
如果介绍是用清晰、简单的语言编写的，那可能会奏效——但事实并非如此。下面是一些示例文本：“我的工作是确保我的客户的概念以一种能够为他们的想法带来意义并将复杂变为可以理解的方式表达出来。” 作为曾经写过软件手册、将程序员语言翻译成日常英语(English)的人，我会说“有时对我的客户来说完全理解的概念充满了行话，其他人无法掌握。我的工作是确保每个人都能理解我的客户在谈论。” ("Sometimes concepts that make perfect sense to my clients are too full of jargon for others to grasp. My job is to make sure everyone can understand what my clients are talking about.")介绍性章节(introductory chapter)的最后一部分是，如果我没有被要求复习，我可能会停止阅读这本书。看看你的想法：“理想情况下，我的大部分建议都会被一个准备好更有效地传达复杂内容的世界所接受。但实际上，一些组织仍然坚持过去的形式和生硬的方式。你的判断对于确定本书内容的适用性是必要的根据你的情况。作为一个特立独行的人并为你的公司打造一种新的沟通方式可能是值得的——但是，如果你走得太远，这可能意味着职业上的麻烦。如果可能，我会尽力指出哪些方法可以用于哪些受众，但请自行注意这些事项。”
会，可以，应该
Supercommunicator的目录看起来很有希望，它包括以下主题：数字技术如何改变通信、多媒体、给内容专家的建议（我们希望为像我们这样的博主找到一些好的技巧）、如何简化你的内容、视觉效果演示、个性化等。不幸的是，这本书并没有兑现它的承诺。有一个关于数字技术和多媒体(technology and multimedia)的部分，并找到合适的媒体来最好地传递您的内容。但写作绝非简单(anything but simple)：“新的多媒体工具促进了双向对话，当他们通知时就参与其中。” 呲牙咧嘴(Riiiiiiiiiight)。有一个部分叫做了解你的听众(Know Thy Audience)首先是关于Pietrucha 先生在(Mr. Pietrucha)智利(Chile)的经历的故事，采访了一位高管，他开始解释Pietrucha 先生(Mr. Pietrucha)无法理解的新技术。但皮特鲁查先生(Mr. Pietrucha)没有站出来说他不明白，而是觉得应该由高管来“读懂我脸上的表情”("read the expressions on my face")，然后弄清楚他早就迷路了。“超级沟通者”真的会期望对方是一个面部（或心灵）读者，而不是哦，沟通(communicating)困难吗？该部分还详细讨论了市场研究(market research)以及为什么它可以帮助弥合组织认为其目标受众(target audience)会感兴趣，以及受众真正感兴趣的是什么。还有一些很好的建议，可以通过低成本方式自行进行一些市场调查。然后该部分以这样的结尾：“有了有关目标受众的正确信息，您就可以在您的通信产品中提供高度集中的内容。” 你的通讯产品(communication product)？那是什么？一本小册子？PowerPoint 演示(PowerPoint presentation)文稿？智能手机？名为“了解你的主题(Know Thy Subject)”的部分包含这个旧内容：“尽管我不得不说了解你的学科的重要性，但你可能会惊讶地发现我没有科学、技术、法律、金融服务或任何其他学科的正式背景——除了通信我被雇来沟通。” 究竟什么是“我受雇进行沟通的沟通”？("communications that I've been hired to communicate"?)
让我们长话短说
我可以继续谈论本书的其余部分，但老实说，如果我现在还没有表达我对Supercommunicator的看法，我作为日常沟通者的工作肯定会失败。🙂想看看如何用任何人都能理解的清晰语言来解释事情吗？去你当地的公共图书馆，看看艾萨克·阿西莫夫(Isaac Asimov)的任何散文集。我特别推荐《月之悲剧》(The Tragedy of the Moon)，里面有一篇文章叫《上古与终极》。("The Ancient and the Ultimate.")都是关于书的。
判决
这本书从一开始就失败了，后来也没有恢复。它充满了被覆盖的段落、自我推销和令人困惑的行话。读起来很痛苦，也许是因为我花了这么多年阅读真正(REAL)的超级传播者的书。
Book Review - Supercommunicator by Frank J. Pietrucha
Have you ever tried to explain something to ѕomeоne and completely faіlеd to get your point across? Have you tried to simplify a complicated concept for someone else and gotten nowhere? Supercommunicator's subtitle is "Explaining the complicated so anyone can understand." Since I'm like many people and sometimes run into trouble trying to explain something that I understand so someone else can understand it, I was very interested to see if this book could teach me how to communicate more clearly. Did it live up to my expectations? Let's see.
A simple guide… or maybe not
The author begins by bragging about himself for several pages, which took me a little by surprise. I'm accustomed to authors laying out their credentials in an appendix or an Author's Notes section or even in blurb form on the book jacket. It appears that Mr. Frank J. Pietrucha wants everyone to know about all his accomplishments, as an introduction to his book.
That might work if the introduction were written in clear, simple language—but it's not. Here's some sample text: "My job is to make sure my clients' concepts are articulated in a way that brings meaning to their ideas and turns the complicated into something understandable." As someone who once wrote software manuals, translating programmer-speak into everyday English, I would have said "Sometimes concepts that make perfect sense to my clients are too full of jargon for others to grasp. My job is to make sure everyone can understand what my clients are talking about." The last part of the introductory chapter was where I probably would have stopped reading the book if I had not been asked to review it. See what you think: "Ideally, most of my suggestions would be embraced by a world ready to communicate complicated content more effectively. But in actuality, some organizations cling to the formality and stilted ways of yesteryears. Your judgment is necessary to determine the applicability of content in this book to your situation. It may be worthwhile for you to be a maverick and forge a new communication style for your company—yet, if you go too far it could mean professional trouble. When possible, I do my best to point out what approaches to use for which audiences, but do be mindful of these matters on your own."
Woulda, coulda, shoulda
The table of contents for Supercommunicator looks promising and it includes subjects like: how digital technology is changing communication, multimedia, advice for content experts (we were hoping to find some good tips for bloggers like us), how to simplify your content, visuals for presentations, personalization, etc. Unfortunately the book just doesn't live up to its promises. There's a section on digital technology and multimedia, and finding the right media to best deliver your content. But the writing is anything but simple: "New multimedia tools facilitate a bidirectional dialogue that engages as they inform." Riiiiiiiiiight. There's a section called Know Thy Audience that begins with a story about Mr. Pietrucha's experiences in Chile, interviewing a top executive who launched into an explanation of new technology that Mr. Pietrucha could not understand. But instead of speaking up and saying that he didn't understand, Mr. Pietrucha felt that it was up to the executive to "read the expressions on my face" and figure out that he had long since gotten lost. Would a "supercommunicator" really expect the other person to be a face (or mind) reader instead of, oh, communicating the difficulty? The section also talks at length about market research and why it can help bridge the gap between what an organization thinks its target audience will be interested in, and what the audience is actually interested in. There are also good suggestions for low cost ways to do some market surveys on your own. And then the section ends with this: "Armed with the right information about your target audience, you can deliver highly focused content in your communication product." Your communication product? What's that? A brochure? A PowerPoint presentation? A smartphone? The section called Know Thy Subject contains this clunker: "With all I have to say about the importance of knowing thy subject, you may be surprised to learn that I don't have a formal background in science, technology, law, financial services, or just about any other subject—other than communications that I've been hired to communicate." What exactly are "communications that I've been hired to communicate"?
Let's make the long story short
I could go on talking about the rest of the book, but honestly, If I haven't conveyed my opinion of Supercommunicator by now, I surely will have failed in my job as an everyday communicator. 🙂 Want to see how to explain things in clear language that anyone can understand? Go to your local public library and check out any of Isaac Asimov's collections of essays. I would especially recommend The Tragedy of the Moon, which contains an essay called "The Ancient and the Ultimate." It's all about books.
Verdict
The book falls flat from the get-go and it doesn't pick itself up later on. It's full of overwritten paragraphs, self-promotion and confusing jargon. It was downright painful to read, perhaps because I have spent so many years reading books by REAL super-communicators.
