Have you ever wondered how to clearly start a conversation with multiple topics?

Many of our work conversations include more than one topic. It only takes a little thought and organization to start a conversation with a single topic. It is harder to be clear when talking about two or more topics.

You can only add or combine two things if they are of the same kind — Steve Demme

When two or more topics combine into a single conversation, the risk of confusion increases exponentially, and the need for clear framing is even more important. You may have experienced this confusion if you’ve ever had to ask someone ‘Are we still talking about [insert topic] or have we moved on to something new?’. Confusion over whether a conversation has moved to a new topic is a clear indicator the conversation wasn’t well-framed.

In a previous post, I described how to frame a single topic to start a conversation with clarity. Single topics only have one context, one intent, and one key message. Conversations with two or more topics can have multiple contexts, different intents for each topic, and a variety of key messages. Without a well-structured start, these conversations go off track. It is easy to mix up critical information or miss important points.

Keep separate topics separate

A common example of mixing topics happens in emails, and it is something many of us have experienced.

Have you ever sent an email with two or more questions? Is it frustrating when the respondent only answers one of the questions?

Our tendency is to blame the other person for not reading the email. Then we have to spend time going back and forth with additional emails or phone calls. This is all extra effort to get all the answers we asked for in the first place.

Instead of blaming the other person, we should take a look at our original email. Did we write it in a way that made it clear that we had multiple questions? Were the questions easily distinguishable from the other text in the message? Or were they buried in the middle of paragraphs?

Often we get an incomplete answer because our questions were not well structured. It was not obvious to the audience that the message contained multiple questions.

It is easy to mix up topics in an email, even when the recipient has time to read it more than once. How much harder is it to keep track of multiple topics in a conversation that’s happening in real-time?

In reality, many of our work conversations involve more than one topic, and this can lead to confusion. By framing the conversation correctly, it’s easier to include multiple topics while also lowering the risk of confusion.

How to keep two topics separate

Conversations with multiple topics start with a summary framing. This technique uses the same principles described in my previous article How to start a conversation at work the right way.

First, create the basic framing for each topic you want to talk about. Remember, separate topics require separate framings. Then, once you have the separate framing for each topic, create a single summary framing for the entire conversation.

This approach frames the overall conversation, preparing the audience for different topics. Each topic is then addressed one at a time as a separate conversation. Frame each separate conversation then continues until the topic is complete. The overall conversation then moves onto the framing for the second topic and so on until all the topics are discussed.

At the start of the discussion, the audience knows they will talk about multiple topics. During the conversation the topics are kept separate, each introduced clearly with framing. This makes it much easier for the audience to mentally shift contexts between topics.

Example

Timothy had three topics to talk to his team leader about:

1. Advice about how to handle a problem with a recent delivery.
2. A decision about nominating a colleague for an award.
3. A decision about some time off.

Timothy knew his team leader was busy, so he wanted to be as clear and concise as possible. Here’s how he combined them into a single framing:

• Context: I’d like to talk to you about three things
• Intent: I need some advice, and I have a couple of decisions
• Key message: We have an issue with the office supply delivery. I’d like to nominate Dave for an award, and I have a request for some time off

When framing multiple topics, the context is the need to talk about multiple topics. This often trips people up because they expect this to be more complex. Keep it simple. If you are going to talk about more than one topic, make that clear to your audience. The intent is a combination of the different topic intents combined into a single sentence. The key message is a combination of the different key messages for each topic.

The 20 word limit for framing is not appropriate here

You don’t need to aim for the less than the 20-word target. You should also expect to use more words when framing multiple topics. This approach has multiple benefits for you and your audience:

1. It helps you logically organize the topics you want to talk about. This will keep them separate and help prevent confusion.
2. The audience can quickly absorb the different topics and evaluate the one they want to cover first.

In today’s time-limited workplace, your audience may have time for only one topic. They may also have a particular interest or need to talk about one of the topics ahead of the others. By framing the entire conversation, it’s easier to select which topics to talk about and which order to talk about them.

The content in this article comes from my award-winning book The First Minute. For more information about how to clearly start a conversation with more than one topic get a copy of the book you can buy it on Amazon UK or Amazon USA.