Exformation: the Missing
Link in Communication
Using context to build
communication capacity
Too Much Information!
Context?
What is Context?
The surroundings, circumstances,
environment, background, or
settings which determine, specify,
or clarify the meaning of an
event.
— Wikipedia —
A Brilliant Illustration
of Context
 The Shortest Correspondence in
history
 A letter from Victor Hugo to his
publisher after publishing Les
Miserables…
?
!
Information is the Medium
Information is nothing…
 How information
impacts us is
everything.
 Context
determines
its impact.
Exformation…
 Term coined by Danish writer Tor
Norretranders for missing
information in communication.
 Exformation is the information used
to convey context that is now implied.
 Information is measureable;
Exformation is not
Context vs. Information
Elegant Communication
 Requires the omission
of needless
information….
 Our only clue lies in
the degree of elegance
in the finished product.
Context by omission…
 Great writing requires rejecting
many iterations.
 Poetry that evokes mental pictures
and deep feelings with few words.
 A glance between lovers speaks
volumes.
Ask Me…
I will listen to what you say. You and I can
turn and look at the silent river and wait.
We know the current is there, hidden; and
there are comings and goings from miles
away that hold the stillness exactly before
us. What the river says, that is what I say.
— William Stafford —
Metaphors are Exformative
Facilitate Exformation…
Slow down and breathe
 When we slow our output, ideas
have time to bubble to the surface
with increased clarity.
 Clearer thoughts and images are
easier to describe in clear terms.
Facilitate Exformation…
Tune in to your Senses
 Some people talk on autopilot.
 Speaking while fully absorbed in our
thoughts isolates us.
 To listen to yourself speak is to be aware
of the world around you.
Facilitate Exformation for Others
 Ask speaker for a metaphor.
 Ask speaker to share an example or a
personal experience.
 Ask for the essence in simple language.
 Provide an exformative presentation
format like Pecha Kucha.
Re-engage with Experience
 Go on an information fast for a week.
 Share meaning when you communicate
as well as information.
 Practice silence in communication.
 In a world struggling to find meaning;
embrace Exformation.
Context is Everything
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