Ordinary Brilliance

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How's Your Bugling?

A Story Of Effective Communication

Who said expressing yourself - such as marketing your business or communicating with your staff or colleagues - had to look or sound elegant? This was driven home to me when a few weekends ago, I heard the elk bugling in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Elk bugling?

During September and October, thousands of elk descend from higher elevations to lower meadows. The rutting call of bulls is an amazing and essentially indescribable sound, unlike anything I’d ever heard before. It starts low and climbs up into a sort of high pitched squeal that resonates throughout the bull’s whole body.

Unlike the sound of songbirds, the elk bugle is not sweet or euphonious. Yet as I watched several bulls on my visit to the park, their message was very clear: stay away from my herd!
The messages you want to communicate may not be so primal. Nonetheless, they are no doubt important to you. And while you may want to craft the perfect communication, effectiveness is the bottom line.

We don’t need to set such a high standard for our communications that we put it off. This can be another excuse for procrastination, perhaps avoiding a difficult conversation or searching for that perfect sound byte for your product or service.

Like the elk, you gotta just put it out there. Strongly, confidently. In a few minutes, you’re going to bugle again anyway, so just let it rip! I did not see any elk crashing antlers; it seems for the most part that’s not necessary. Their bugle is sufficient. That’s what we’re after too. A message that’s clear enough that we don’t feel any temptation to resort to less effective methods!

The elk know instinctively how to bugle. For us humans, we need to learn and practice our own version of bugling. The world needs to hear your message, so just think of those elk and express yourself! And let me know how your version of bugling goes.

© 2009 Anne Alexander, all rights reserved in all media