Nothing can turn your patient off faster than using "heavy" words when they are hungry for "lite' words. Or vice versa. I learned this concept from Patricia Fripp, past president of the National Speakers Association. In one of her lessons, she talks about "Levels of Abstraction." In respect to patient communication, Levels of Abstraction can be explained as follows. Unless we can match our messages to the expectations of our patients, or speak at the same level our patients are listening, we will not connect to them as we should.
An example of using heavy and "lite" words can be illustrated by the following exercise. Write or think of the words "periodontal disease." Moving up to the next level of abstraction, you can use words such as: cascade of inflammatory markers causing an infection around one tooth or many teeth, destructive process of tissue and bone, or chronic bacterial infection that can may cause other serious health risks.
The above descriptive words are fatter or heavier. Heavy words and higher abstractions are used to convey big ideas, overviews, and general information.
If you want to make the words "lite," you may start with "toxins, bacteria, bone loss, periodontal pockets, plaque, and or bleeding." These words are at a lesser level of abstraction and are appropriate when discussing postoperative, self-care instructions or detailing treatment plans. At this point, our patients want to know the who, what, when, and how.
Learn to be more effective by sharing this communication exercise with your teammates. Then begin by evaluating each other. When presenting oral health education, or an overview of your clinical findings, should your words be fat or skinny?
If you are making cursory connections and/or providing some information to the dentist during a periodic examination, your words probably should be fat. When the patient begins to ask the who, what, when can we get started, how much will insurance cost etc., now is when the words need to get skinny. If patients desire to move forward with treatment, nothing can squash a YES faster than using non-specific or ambiguous words.
For further clarification, a comparison outside of dentistry is computers. When you are in the market to buy one, heavy or fat words are acceptable. These words can convey an overview of benefits, features, size, megapixels etc. When you want your computer fixed, you desire the technician to use basic and clear language. Such as, push XYZ button, the screen should show this, etc. Words and instructions that are too fat do not give a clear picture.
Start looking at your communication. When does it need to be heavy? When does it need to be skinny?
Kristine A. Hodsdon RDH
Director, RDH eVillage
