Exformation: the Missing Link in Communication

Using context to build communication capacity

Too Much Information!

Context?

What is Context?

The surroundings, circumstances, environment, background, or settings which determine, specify,

or clarify the meaning of an event. — Wikipedia —

A Brilliant Illustration of Context

The Shortest Correspondence in history

A letter from Victor Hugo to his publisher after publishing Les Miserables…

?

!

Information is the Medium

Information is nothing…

How information impacts us is everything.

Context determines its impact.

Exformation…

Term coined by Danish writer Tor Norretranders for missing information in communication.

Exformation is the information used to convey context that is now implied.

Information is measureable; Exformation is not

Context vs. Information

Elegant Communication

Requires the omission of needless information….

Our only clue lies in the degree of elegance in the finished product.

Context by omission…

Great writing requires rejecting many iterations.

Poetry that evokes mental pictures and deep feelings with few words.

A glance between lovers speaks volumes.

Ask Me…

I will listen to what you say. You and I can turn and look at the silent river and wait. We know the current is there, hidden; and there are comings and goings from miles away that hold the stillness exactly before us. What the river says, that is what I say.— William Stafford —

Metaphors are Exformative

Facilitate Exformation…

Slow down and breathe

When we slow our output, ideas have time to bubble to the surface with increased clarity.

Clearer thoughts and images are easier to describe in clear terms.

Tune in to your Senses

Some people talk on autopilot.

Speaking while fully absorbed in our thoughts isolates us.

To listen to yourself speak is to be aware of the world around you.

Facilitate Exformation…

Ask speaker for a metaphor.

Ask speaker to share an example or a personal experience.

Ask for the essence in simple language.

Provide an exformative presentation format like Pecha Kucha.

Facilitate Exformation for Others

Re-engage with Experience

Go on an information fast for a week.

Share meaning when you communicate as well as information.

Practice silence in communication.

In a world struggling to find meaning; embrace Exformation.

Context is Everything

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