Communication is the cornerstone of starting a good business. What amazes me is how bad we all are at it. Especially in the startup environment, effective communication between team members and clear communication with the public can make or break your idea. The problem as it see it is that many of us learned everything we know about business communication from the movies.

Here are a few tips for all entrepreneurs who are going to be talking to real people at any length.

No One Cares About How Many People Love The Product

If you had the Flu, you wouldn’t waste your time telling people about the diseases you didn’t have — would you? More than a few entrepreneurs get trapped in their own self-praise. They look at reports about how great their product is doing compared to others and choose to ignore the nagging little criticisms that are the real causes of startup failure.

People who like your product don’t matter in a marketing sense. As long as the product is there keeping them happy, you don’t need to worry about them. The people who you should be focused on are those who absolutely, positively hate everything that you are doing. You have to be willing to learn the language of your critics and tailor your message to them. Ego is only going to take you so far when you are one of a thousand “Web 2.0″ widgets out there.

Be willing to say, “I Don’t Know”

When communicating your idea, it’s always better to admit to lack of knowledge rather than to dance around your ignorance. Especially when external circumstances keep you from being able to tell the public all the information.

When talking about an idea to the public at large, this point is even more critical. People appreciate direct answers to questions, even if that answer is “I don’t know” or “I can’t say.”

The point is that no one trusts a used car salesman, so don’t market your startup like one.

What Do You Mean We’re Not Releasing For A Month?

Internal communication is equally important.

Make sure that everyone on your team is on the same page. Marketers need to know what developers are doing, developers need to know what marketers are saying, business development needs realistic projections about product potential from marketing and development. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.

If you aren’t communicating well within your own small team, it is ridiculous to believe that you will be able to convince perfect strangers that your product is for them.

Your Product Is Not That Important

Unless you have just put the patent on a cure for Cancer, your product is not that important. The best thing you can do for your business and for yourself is to keep things in perspective. Most people you are going to speak to (especially investors) are rationale. Well, at least as far as your ideas are concerned.

While they will appreciate that you believe your product is going to “revolutionize the industry as we know it!” Most of them recognize the fact that it probably won’t. When communicating, provide value not hype. I would much rather hear about your innovative distribution model than listen to a 30 minute dissertation on how your Horse Breeding social network is going to change the face of animal husbandry forever.

Knock Off The Marketese

Corporate speak, marketese and all the surrounding aural detritus should be immediately excised from your speech. It’s great as a tool to talk to industry folks, but it is completely useless when trying to communicate your ideas to real people.

People ignore anything that sounds like an advertisement, so rambling on about “leveraging internal synergies” to Joe and Jane Average is one of the most effective means of turning them off to your idea.

Web 2.0 Roundup

The last point is that brevity is clarity. Say what needs to be said and be done with it. The fewer words you use to explain an idea, the more likely it is that the idea will actually be understood. When communicating with the public, don’t be afraid to stop talking every once in a while.

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