“Does that make sense?”
This is a common turn of phrase and one I’ve been working to eliminate from my communication.
While on the surface it can seem like a helpful tool when we’re seeking to communicate clearly, ensure understanding, and get alignment, asking “does that make sense?” is problematic for a few reasons:
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It conveys doubt in your audience’s ability to follow along and understand and can feel disempowering.
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It introduces uncertainty about the credibility of the content you’ve shared as the communicator.
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It transfers the responsibility for putting in the work to communicate clearly away from you the communicator and places it onto your audience.
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It’s often not an effective way to validate your audience’s understanding. Regardless of whether or not what you shared made sense to your audience, they might hesitate to say “no it doesn’t” or “not really” for fear or embarrassment of potentially coming across as dim, foolish, or incompetent. Those feelings are likely amplified if there are varying status roles involved in the conversation (e.g. CEO speaking to a junior team member) or a low level of trust in the relationship.
Communicating clearly and ensuring clarity is important if not mission-critical, and it’s something we need to take full responsibility for as leaders and communicators. The onus is on us to put in the work to communicate clearly and to develop self-awareness to effectively ensure understanding in different situations with different audiences.
Here are some alternatives to “Does that make sense?” that I’ve been using:
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Do you have any questions?
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How does that sound to you?
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How do you see it?
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What else would you add, change, or clarify?
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Of what I just shared, what are you curious to learn more about?
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Of what I just shared, what resonates most with you?
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What other perspectives would you suggest?
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What insight are you taking away from this conversation?
I’d love to know, what other alternatives do you use? What phrases would you recommend?
