I was sitting in a conference-room meeting with one of our customers just observing. One gentleman did not speak much, but when he did… everyone listened intently. I tried to figure out what he was doing with his responses and I found something!

He was using a simple structure for each response. Now, I’m sure there were others in the room with similar knowledge and experience, but just because you know a subject well doesn’t mean you know how to communicate it to others. Unlike the other subject matter experts in the room, this guy was giving his responses in a format that seemed much more engaging than the rest.

What exactly was he doing?

He was including both action steps and the motivation to take those steps. He did it with a simple structure we call Situation – Action – Results (SAR). As he began to speak, he offered his interpretation of the issue or opportunity they were facing (Situation.) Then he offered a thought or two on which direction he thought would be wisest (Action.) Finally, he left them with the motivation to move in that direction with his forecast of the positive results they’d most likely see (Results.)

Bill Kreiger is one our instructors at iSpeak. He’s an amazing facilitator and a gifted leader. When we were in the studio recently he recorded an example of what this SAR structure looks like when responding to a question. Here’s Bill using SAR to respond to a question about what went wrong.

Situation

Describe the opportunity or the challenge you are currently facing. This section can be used to highlight the problems being created by this situation or the high costs of the current situation. If you need to get people emotionally engaged, describing the bad situation and its effects will do that for you!

Action

This is the change your recommending. What are the steps you’d recommend to eliminate the problem? Make sure you point out your research or analysis and support your proposed action steps.

Results

Your audience will be more likely to get on board with your proposal if they see the resulting benefits from the proposed changes. Show them specifically how they will benefit.

Just knowing a subject well doesn’t make us valuable to our organizations. That knowledge only becomes valuable when we can put it to good use. When we communicate and share that knowledge so others can act on it, the knowledge now has worth.

Don’t keep your knowledge all bottled up. Share it with others in a structured manner and put it to work!

Have you ever seen someone use this template? Have you seen them use a different template? Comment below and let us all know!

I’m always observing to learn from the best,

Russ

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Russ Peterson Jr. is the co-founder and Managing Director of iSpeak, Inc. – An award-winning professional development training company. Russ is a published author on Professional Sales Communication and Business Communication. He delivers workshops, keynotes, and personal communication coaching services to business professionals in the US and around the world. You can connect with Russ directly through Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.