Repeat Yourself, a Lot
A somewhat related approach that I’ve found incredibly useful in my career is repeating what -others- have told you back to them, a lot.It’s honestly amazing to me how much mileage I’ve gotten out of simply saying, “I heard you say X about Y. Does that sound right to you?” a couple of times during discussions just to make sure that everyone is clear that we’re all discussing the same thing.It seems like “common sense” to clarify your understanding of someone else’s communication but I haven’t run into very many people who actually take the time to do it.