Lost In Translation

I visited an Asian supermarket just as they were about to close up. One of the employees recognised me while the other person appeared to be new.

They were gracious enough to allow me to shop but I had to stand by the entrance as the aisle was filled with what would have been their outside display during the day.

I gave my order to the newbie and asked for some red bell peppers. When he came back with my order, he brought red habanero peppers which is a staple ingredient that I use all the time.

I realised my order had been lost in translation and I didn’t have the heart to ask him for what I wanted, recognising they had indulged me and knowing I would use the habanero peppers anyway.

The only reason I didn’t initially ask for the habanero peppers was because I thought it would be harder to describe that to him and I still had some left at home.

In my mind, I tried to make my order simple but it was still lost in translation. The outcome was great in the end as I could get my red bell peppers in lots of places.

You can think you have delivered an excellent message but you can’t be the judge of that. Only the feedback and outcomes from your audience can confirm how effective your delivery was.

Recently a young man asked me for directions and after I gave him the directions, I saw that he would have continued in the opposite direction had he not asked.

It was hard to give him directions due to language barriers and as he continued on his merry way, I stood watching him for a few moments concerned the directions I had given him could still be lost in translation.

On another occasion, while seeing a friend off to the train station, a young lady asked for directions to the train station and I told her we were headed in the same direction.

I kept glancing back to make sure she was following us as I was invested in getting her to the right destination.

This is what communication is about. How do we communicate? How much of what we say is lost in translation? What is the cost of content that is lost in translation and how can we communicate in a way that little is lost in translation?

The point of communication is to get your message heard, received and understood hopefully triggering the right responses.

Here are some tips to help your prepare and deliver your message:

What is your message and desired outcome?

This is the whole reason for your communication; you want to elicit a desired response. So be clear about what the message is and the call to action. This requires preparing and testing your message.

Know your audience

Landing your message continues with knowing your audience. The way you communicate will need to be tailored so you can make up for language and cultural barriers, ways of learning and the lens through which people filter information.

Tailor your delivery format

You could have a good message but if delivered in the wrong way or format, you risk losing your audience and consequently your message.

Follow up

The only way to know if your message has landed is to follow up on the results. You can ask your audience to play back the key messages, write down their commitments and you can check on their results and outcomes.

Finally if you are on the receiving end of a communication that you fear could be lost in translation, don’t be afraid to ask for more clarity. The cost gets higher the longer you act on incorrect information.

Thanks for reading my post. Have a great week and don’t forget to share the post with others.