October 31, 2019 — Here are tips shared by Dr. Edsel Maurice Salvaña during his speech at the celebration of UP Manila’s 40th year of autonomy and 37th UP Manila day.

Dr. Salvana is one of the 2012 Ten Outstanding Ten Young Persons of the World for Humanitarian and Voluntary Leadership, one of the 2010  The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Philippines by JCI International for HIV advocacy, Outstanding Young Scientist for 2010 by the National Academy of Science and Technology, and a TED fellow. He is associate professor of medicine at the Philippine General Hospital.

1. Cut ideas into manageable chunks. Do not overload the audience with too much information, break down thoughts into the essentials. No matter how good your message is, if you can’t get it in a tweet (280 characters), no one would read it.

2. Always put the message upfront. No frills, no unnecessary extras, go directly to the point. Knowing that the common human attention span ranges from 10 to 20 minutes, it drops to 30 seconds if member has a phone on one hand.

3. Focus on the idea and not yourself as people will always remember what was said rather than who said it.

4. Recognize that effective communication requires hard work. The effect of one’s communication is directly proportional to the amount of effort put in it. Make use of visuals and designs as these are great ways of making certain your intended message is received.

5. As not everyone will like the message, make it as interesting as possible so that people will understand all the wonderful things you want to say.

6. Always tell the truth. In the end, if what you’re saying is not the truth, it’s not going to resonate. You can improve your communication skills to be even more effective but you need to start with the right message. If you don’t believe in your message, no one would believe you.

Anne Marie Alto | Published in UP Manila Healthscape September – October 2019