I came across The Curse of Knowledge in Made to Stick almost a decade ago, and ironically it’s the only thing from the book that really stuck with me. The basic idea is that the better you understand something, the more difficult you can find it to explain that thing to someone. I’ve applied the point an unreal number of times in my career as a communicator since then. It’s a perfect way to describe to someone why their message isn’t coming across, especially when it’s a complex subject.

And then, the curse struck me.

When I became a consultant last year (instead of some lucky organization having me as their in-house expert), I struggled mightily to explain what I did. For more than a decade, I’d worked with people who understood the power of communication—which is why they had a full-time position or team to do it. Suddenly, I was faced with explaining not only what I do, but why it matters and who I can help. (And let’s be real, I’m still struggling a bit. It did take me a year to create my own website, after all.) It can be an overwhelming job description to cover, and that’s when it hit me.

Everything we do is communication.

I am obsessed with words, but I also know communication is so much more than that. You’ve probably heard that less than 10 per cent of human communication comes down to words; that number may be up for debate, but it’s hard to dispute the idea, even when we’re talking about written communication. When you communicate, are you considering all these aspects?

• How you present yourself, from body language and speaking style to the tone you use and the way you dress

• Images, graphics, colours and fonts

• Where you share information

• Who you surround and align yourself with

• What you talk about—or don't talk about

Each of those elements tells your audience something about you, your business, your choices—and everyone in an organization is making those choices every day.

A communications professional is trained to watch all these elements and make sure you’re combining them to get the right message across. Sometimes we are helping with just one or two, and sometimes we are looking at the whole picture so you don’t have to. But no matter how much of it we handle, we can make your organization better.