The message came in quietly, as many others do. “Good morning, sir. I have a proposal that will benefit the community. Let me know if you’re interested.” It was polite and warm. It had good intentions and optimism. But it had one serious problem. It created fresh work for me rather than the solution it planned to offer.
As President of the Association of Nigerians in Nova Scotia, Canada, and Executive Communication Strategist at Re-wRight Consult, I receive many messages from people seeking support, collaboration, introductions, sponsorship, endorsements, partnerships, or simply attention. Some are excellent, some are forgettable, while some die before they even begin. This is not usually because the idea is bad, but because the communication is weak. This particular message belonged to that middle category: potentially useful but unnecessarily vague.
I stared at the email for a moment and asked myself the same questions every busy professional silently asks when a message arrives: “What exactly is this about? Why should I care? And what does the sender want me to do?” The letter answered none of them.
Many questions flashed through my mind. Should I ask for details? Should I ignore it until I have more time? Should I assume it is another generic pitch copied and sent to twenty different people? Should I be excited, or should I be cautious and suspicious?
The responsibility for making the message clear had been shifted from the sender to the receiver. That is where the failure of many professional conversations starts. Many people often think that politeness is all that matters in communication. There is no argument about the importance of politeness or courtesy in communication, but clarity matters more.
A respectful message without clarity is like arriving at someone’s office, greeting the person politely and saying, “I have something important to discuss,” then standing there silently, waiting for them to pull the story out of you. It creates friction. And friction kills momentum.
Many qualified people lose opportunities because their communication creates unnecessary work for the other person. Busy executives are not wicked and thoughtless people who reject opportunities to punish others. Rather, they usually reject confusion because confusion consumes time.
This is repeated in different forms. A young graduate sends a LinkedIn message to a CEO: “I would like to connect with you for mentorship.” Mentorship about what? Why you? Why now? What kind of help do you actually need?
Another person writes to a potential client: “I believe my services can help your business grow.” Which services? What problem did you notice? What result do you think is possible?
Another message says: “I have a business idea we can discuss.” That sentence alone can initiate fatigue, because when busy professionals get into a discussion without definition, they usually end up wasting their time.
Many assume that by creating suspense, they will make the prospect curious. But that does the opposite, because in professional communication, suspense creates avoidance. Nobody wants to open a mystery box during a busy workday. It is worse if the message is from an unknown person.
The strongest messages are those that sound useful rather than dramatic. Years ago, in public relations and strategic communication, one of the first lessons I learned was: never force your audience to do interpretive work. If the reader needs to decode your message, you are already losing, because your reader is not your student studying to pass your exam.
Your job as a communicator goes beyond merely speaking. You should be primarily concerned about ensuring that you reduce the effort the reader needs to make before understanding your message and carrying out your call to action.
That principle applies whether you are writing a proposal, sending an email, speaking in a meeting, pitching investors, requesting sponsorship, or even asking for a favour. Clarity is strategy. It is not a piece of decoration you add to make your communication more appealing. I often tell professionals that every first message should answer three questions immediately. First: What is this about? Second: Why should I care? Third: What do you want me to do?
These three questions determine whether people will pay attention to your message. If your message does not answer them, it becomes the duty of the reader to supply the answers themselves. Most people will not. They will postpone that duty, ignore it, or forget it.
Since you sent the message because you needed something, why not increase your chances of getting results by acting differently? Imagine if that original message had been written like this: “Good morning, sir. I’m working on a mentorship initiative for Nigerian students in Nova Scotia focused on career transition and professional networking. I believe ANNS could play an important role in supporting the launch. I would love 15 minutes to briefly share the idea and explore possible collaboration.”
This changes everything. Now, the subject is clear to the reader. It does not take any effort to see the value to the organisation. The request is specific. No doctoral research is needed to decode the message. Naturally, it becomes easier to respond. That is the power of context.
Sometimes people avoid clarity because they fear being too direct. They think precision may sound aggressive, so they soften everything until the message becomes foggy. But clarity is not aggression. Clarity is respect. It says: “I value your time enough to make this easy for you; I understand that attention is expensive. Therefore, I came prepared.”
When examined more deeply, vague communication is often unintentionally selfish. It asks the other person to spend mental energy organising your thoughts for you. That is not collaboration but an outsourcing effort for free.
This problem is especially common in communities where respect is emphasised as part of the culture. We are taught to greet properly, to show humility, and to avoid appearing too forward. These values are important. But respect should not be an excuse for vagueness. You can be warm and still be clear, just as you can be respectful and still say exactly what you mean.
In fact, that is the highest form of professional respect. The best communicators understand this balance. They know that warmth opens the door, but clarity gets you inside.
I have seen talented people lose funding because their proposals buried the real idea under too many polite paragraphs. The same goes for brilliant entrepreneurs who missed partnerships because their outreach sounded like a riddle.
People say, “I am not getting responses.” Most times, the problem is the way the message is framed. The message ends up creating work instead of reducing it. Every inbox is a battlefield for attention where every notification competes against deadlines, meetings, family obligations, and mental tiredness. Your message is not being judged in isolation but against urgency. Clarity increases its chances of survival.
This is true in leadership, too. As community leaders, managers, founders, and executives, we must communicate in ways that make action easier. Instructions should be clear and requests specific. Expectations should also be known. This is because confusion creates delays, resentment, repeated conversations, and avoidable mistakes. The sentence “I thought you understood” has probably caused more workplace problems than open conflict.
If communication ends without understanding, communication has not taken place. Your duty is to help the other person move quickly from confusion to decision.
The next time you want someone’s attention (whether it is a CEO, a community leader, a client, a colleague, or even a friend), pause before you send that message. Ask yourself: Have I explained what this is about? Have I shown why it matters? Have I made the next step obvious? If the answer is no, please rewrite.
Do not send mystery when you need action, or send suspense when you need support. Send context. Why? Because the fastest way to lose attention is to make people guess. And the fastest way to earn respect is to make clarity effortless.
X: @BrandAzuka