How the Experts Make the Complex Simple

Often in business  we are faced with a great deal of ambiguity and complex situations in all fields, whether it be creating a piece of viral content or consulting about tax returns, there is always something to wrestle with. With this in mind, we spoke to a few of our speakers that we feel have a real knack for simplifying the complex. Similar to those professors you had in school who could make a tricky piece of trigonometry seem like the only thing that has ever made sense, these keynotes know how to connect the dots. They shared a few words with us on what they can bring to the topic of making the complex simple.

Javier Bajer  is a cultural architect and a pioneer of leadership performance and cultural change. As a Cultural Architect, Javier helps organisations and cities change old habits, allowing their strategies to work. With both theoretical and practical understanding of what makes people engage and behave in certain ways, Javier creates award-winning interventions that produce change in record times. Helping people in business ultimately ‘make things happen’ Javier is an expert in aiding efficiency and creating positive company environments.

On the topic of making the complex task of changing a company culture simple, Javier shared with us a few words on how you can achieve a positive working environment  that echoes your business values. He commented that “culture is simple, but it is made to sound complicated. Culture is the sum of all the conversations in a given business (or a family, church, city and even country).  It is not what people discuss at a corporate event, but what they say when you are not watching, back at work, every day, all the time.

Javier Bajer

Change those conversations and you’ll change the culture.

Contrary to popular belief, changes does not take TIME. Avoid wasting resources with surveys and endless meetings where everyone is ‘engaged’ to discuss values, rather than living them. Humans don’t change because we tell them to (you already know that if you are a parent).

Change takes COURAGE, daring to straighten the coherence between processes, tools, ways of working, policies, reward strategies, formal and informal comms, budgets, priorities, plans, strategies, practices, etc. Instead of pictures of academic models, changing a culture looks a lot more like a few sessions with a chiropractor.”

Keynote speaker Yanis Varoufakis, the former finance  minister of Greece addresses this topic in his most recent book. Publishing several bestsellers on Europe, the global financial crisis, the eurozone and economic power, Yanis is an expert in simplifying large and complex issues into manageable bite-size chunks.

Yanis Varoufakis

His latest book is called ‘Talking to My Daughter – A Brief History of Capitalism’ in which he goes about answering his eleven-year-old daughter’s question. Crunching big topics and addressing how the economy has the power to shape our lives, Yanis works to make sense of the world as we know it in a succinct and simple way. Writing in accessible language, he applies the same tone to his speeches, helping even beginners get to grips with some of the most complex economic theory and policy.

On a different note, behavioural persuasion expert and magician Lee Warren shared his thoughts. Combining his unique background in magic and mind-reading, with the science of psychology, Lee is accomplished in teaching others how to communicate simply and effectively in business situations. Cutting through the noise, he commented:

“Making complex subjects simple is, well, simple. You just need to focus on the audience instead of yourself. Presentations often seem complicated because the speaker is too focused on what matters to them, rather than the audience. They become too interested in processes and systems and use too much jargon.

There are three quick and simple techniques I use as a speaker to keep the message as simple as possible. I've used these with many speaking clients too and they always work a treat.

First, I always ask the question: 'What do I want my audience to do at the end of my presentation?'. Focusing on action forces me to simplify my message. If a message isn't clear, the audience can't act on it!

Lee Warren

Second, I follow the rule of thumb: 'Don't say what you want to say, say what your audience needs to hear'. Focusing on what the audience needs - what matters to them - is a guaranteed way to make a message simpler.

Lastly, I fill in the second half of this sentence: 'At the heart of my presentation is a simple idea ...'

Whatever ends up in the '...' is usually clear, simple and relevant, and if you use that as the 'anchor' for your message, then you'll find it easy to keep it simple.

Although making the complex simple in different domains, our speakers show how you can turn the unknown ambiguities into manageable simplicities.

To book, or for more info. on any of our speakers, call us on +44 (0) 20 7607 7070 or email us at  info@speakerscorner.co.uk .

Newsletter Sign Up

If you liked this article then why not sign up to our newsletters? We promise to send interesting and useful interviews, tips and blogs, plus free event invites too.