How to get to the heart of the matter quickly
Given the topic, let me get straight to the point!
When I want to get to the heart of a topic quickly, here’s what I do:
- Identify for myself what the “heart” or the key issue is.
For instance, sometimes I agree to talk with people, thinking we’re going to talk about one thing. Then when we start talking, I realize that the other person has a different agenda.
So getting to the “heart” of the matter in this case is to simply understand what the point of the conversation is.
- Ask one or two key questions, that’ll reveal the information I want.
In cases like the example above, I might ask quite directly what the other person wants out of the conversation. Or why he or she wanted to talk with me.
The answer to that one question quickly gets me to the heart of the matter.
If the situation is reversed and I initiate the conversation, I still follow the same 2 steps:
Why do I want to talk to this person?
And what can I ask that’ll quickly tell me whether he or she is interested in talking about whatever it is.
So what do you do?
– Sri
