The first thing you have to do is to understand your receiver. How technical is their background? How well do they know your product or service? Are they from the same cultural background as you? From which generation are they?

The first two questions determine how easily they will be able to comprehend more complex technical answers and the second two questions determine their expectations on how you will talk with them. It is outside the scope of this book to perform a detailed review of all the different ways of communication for a complex group of customers and users, therefore, this book sticks to a few pieces of advice that can help you change your way of communication.

The combination of technical background and affinity with your product or service determines the complexity and amount of information you can safely provide the user with. If someone is not very technical and uses your highly technical product only occasionally it may be best to just give him or her a step-by-step explanation on how to solve their issue. Then again, if someone uses your product all the time and is quite technically versed, chances are he or she expects to know where their problem came from and how to prevent it in the future. Don't try to explain something technically complex to someone when it is either far too complicated for them to understand, not interesting from their perspective, or both. When someone is interested and able to comprehend the more technically complex answer, take some more time to explain the background so they can help themselves in the future.

Aside from choosing the complexity level of your communication based on the receiver, you also have to change the type of language you use. People from an older generation often prefer a more formal way of communication than someone from your generation or someone younger than you. If you operate on an international market there are so many cultural differences that it is often safe to stick to a more professional style of communication, but be careful of those cultures where this is not appreciated. If you do operate in a department that handles questions from multiple cultural backgrounds, which can even come from minority groups within one country, try to spend some time understanding and recognizing the differences of these people.

Even when someone has a very technical background and is very familiar with your product or service he or she may not understand the acronyms and specific terminology of your branch. Try to avoid using complicated and very specific terms unless you are absolutely sure they are known to your receiver. Learn to use common language and to replace acronyms with the full words each letter stands for to make yourself easier to understand for your receiver. Some acronyms or terms, such as ADSL, may be simpler to understand than their full names (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line) in which case you should use the acronym, but these cases are rarer than you might think. Make sure to KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).

Context is needed to understand just about anything anyone ever explained to you. In fact, your frame of reference that provides you with the context needed to understand almost anything is what creates a great number of misunderstandings. Before explaining anything complex or sensitive it is very important to provide the right context. What is the scope of the message (e.g. what does it pertain to)? What knowledge is required to understand the message? Is there a history that needs to be known to understand the message? Etc. This will ensure that the message is understood within its context and will reduce the risk of miscommunication.

Once you have sent out your message with the right context, using common language, and adjusted for your receiver, you will need to verify that the message has been received correctly. To do this you will have to ask for feedback. You could be very direct and ask the receiver to summarize what you have just said or you can take more care to prevent sounding like a nagging schoolteacher and ask a few open questions. A good open question has no yes/no answer; it will trigger the user to explain things from their perspective. For instance, "do you have any further questions?" is not a good open question. In most cases the answer will be no. A better question would be, "how do you feel this answered your question?" This forces the user to formulate with more detail if his question has been fully answered and stays with the original problem or question they contacted you with. Test your open questions by trying to answer them with yes or no and consider how they relate to the original question or problem posed and you will see that you will get a better idea if your answer was satisfactory.

When you believe you have answered all questions and addressed all problems satisfactorily it is time to summarize what you have said. Most basic communication and presentation techniques mention the three steps of presenting or answering any subject: explain what you are going to say, say what you have to say, say what you have just said. This mantra exists to make sure information sticks. As you summarize, you also have the opportunity to remind the user of what to do if the problem reappears and what information they should remember. A good summary is short and to the point. After the user has listened to the summary and has no further questions, and only then, it is time to close the contact with the common "Have a nice day." or some variation of that.