The Power of Prelude in Communication

On the power of prelude.

Here’s something I learned from the late, great John R Caldon, former Deputy MD of Macquarie Group.

He would almost always begin his phone calls by asking: “Have I caught you at a good time? Is this a convenient time to talk?”

It’s surprising how often a simple courtesy such as this results in the person being called asking for a few minutes. And even when they don’t, they proceed with the call feeling that you respect their time. Either way, your call is likely to be more successful if you begin it this way. Give it a try.

John also used the power of prelude when broaching a sensitive issue or a contrarian view: “Forgive me, no doubt I’m missing something, but …” or “Please forgive me, I don’t have your expert knowledge in this field …”. In this way, on the rare occasion that John’s argument was based on a wrong supposition, people never took offence.

John even used the power of prelude to neutralise perceptions before they were formed: “The story I’m about to tell you, Adam, portrays me in a positive light so please forgive my bragging.”

What John taught me is that all messages are permissible if they are courteously expressed. Rather than bottle them up, unleash them with the power of prelude.