Effective Communication is Teaching
Learn why the "pedagogical triangle" is a teaching tool that can make you a a better communicator.
English 101 for Technologists
I often say my English minor mattered more to my career than my Computer Science major. In English 101, a professor introduced a simple model that changed how I write and communicate, and that skill has been the backbone of a lot of good software architecture. What I learned is called the “Pedagogical Triangle,” and it connects the concepts of teaching to communication by asking you to consider the relationships between the communicator, audience, and message as if you were teaching the audience. When I use this concept to guide my documentation, proposals, and instructions, I have found that audiences can follow my ideas more easily and have a lot fewer questions.
Pedagogical means “relating to the theory and practice of teaching and learning”. This article translates the triangle into a practical toolkit for business communication. You will learn how to design documents, presentations, and conversations that teach first and persuade second.
The Pedagogical Triangle
The original triangle has three vertices. Teacher, Student, and Content. In business settings, this maps cleanly to communicator, audience, and message.
It also defines three axes that describe the relationships among those vertices.
Teacher to content is didactics, or how the material is structured and explained. In a business context, the teacher is the communicator, and you can call this Knowledge Architecture.
Student to content is learning, or how the audience engages and progresses. In the business context, the student is the audience for your message, and you can call this Audience Engagement.
Teacher to student is pedagogy, or the relational conditions that make learning possible. In the business context, this is the message, and you can call this Relational Influence.
The power of the model is not in the labels. It is in the discipline of designing your communication around all three relationships at once.
Knowledge Architecture (Didactics)
Structure and simplify the message so it is learnable, not only accurate. Assume limited attention and design accordingly. Define terms before you use them. Sequence ideas by dependency, not by the org chart. Replace multi-axis dashboards with one narrative graphic per idea. Create visible scaffolding so a reader can track where they are, why it matters, and what comes next.
A useful test is survivability. If the document is forwarded without you in the room, does it still teach the decision and the action you want?
Audience Engagement (Learning)
People must be able to enter, follow, and finish. Start with the outcome, then provide the minimum viable context, then the ask. Signal progress with numbered steps and short section headers. Use examples that live in the reader’s world. Move from concrete to abstract, then back to concrete with the next step. When attention dips, add a micro-interaction such as a quick poll in a meeting or a short validation checklist in a document.
Relational Influence (Pedagogy)
Trust and tone determine whether learning can happen at all. State assumptions plainly. Separate facts from interpretations. Credit other teams by name. Invite clarifying questions early rather than saving them for a performative Q&A at the end. Treat your audience as partners in sense-making, not as objects to be persuaded.
When these three elements harmonize, your communication stops feeling like sales and starts feeling like shared problem-solving.
The Rhetorical Triangle?
The rhetorical triangle is a classical framework for designing and analyzing persuasive communication. It is closely related to the Pedagogical Triangle because it is sometimes framed the same way (communicator, audience, message), but the Rhetoric Triangle can also represent persuasive appeals to those groups (ethos, credibility of the communicator; logos, reasoning, evidence, and structure; and
pathos, emotional resonance and stakes). That means that the RT tunes appeals to logic, credibility, and emotion, while PT designs the learning journey so those appeals can land. Use pedagogy to shape the environment and sequence, then apply rhetorical appeals at the right moments.
I was a bit disappointed to learn the pedagogical triangle is distinct from the rhetorical one, or I could claim I had been borrowing even more from Aristotle than just praxis.
Documents That Teach
Let’s connect some of these ideas to how to write documents.
Purpose First
Begin with a two to four-sentence executive summary that names the decision, the outcome, and the minimum context required. Readers should know in thirty seconds whether they can approve, challenge, or delegate.
Order by Dependency
Sequence sections in the order a new reader needs to learn them. Definitions precede evidence. Evidence precedes options. Options precede the recommendation. The recommendation precedes the next actions and owners. Think about this the same way you would progressive disclosure.
Narrative Graphics
Use one figure for one idea. A triangle labeled Communicator, Audience, Message can carry a paragraph of text (see above). A single swim lane with only the decision points can replace three screenshots of tooling.
Progress Signals
Numbered steps, short subheads, and short paragraphs reduce cognitive load. Think in five to nine chunks. Anything larger becomes a scavenger hunt.
Action Rehearsal
End with a short preview of the first action. Who does what by when. Provide a sentence or two on how to tell if it is working.
Document Checklist
Executive summary that names the decision and the outcome
Glossary for any terms that can be misread
One narrative graphic per idea
Options table with tradeoffs and a clear recommended default
Risks and mitigations in plain language
Next steps with owners and dates
Although it’s not framed as “pedagogical,” you can also read my article Put The Right Thing First or my other posts on writing for more tips on communication.
Presentations that Teach
Meetings are live, interactive pedagogical events. Treat them that way.
One Idea per Slide
Slides are not pages. If a slide requires a tour guide, it is a document in disguise.
Visible Scaffolding
Use a simple progress bar or slide numbering that maps to your agenda. People relax when they know where they are in the journey.
Micro-interactions
Insert short pauses to validate understanding or surface objections. A one-minute silent read of the decision slide often saves twenty minutes of back-and-forth.
Room Calibration
Tailor tone and detail to the audience’s proximity to the work. Executives need the decision and the bounding conditions. Implementers need the specific constraints and the exact next step.
Persistent Thread
Every five minutes, return to the central decision. Tie each section back to the criteria that matter.
Presentation checklist
Agenda with clear decision objective
Decision slide is early and visible
Three to five slides that build the case
One slide that lists risks and how they will be monitored
Final slide with commitments, owners, and dates
If you want more information on crafting great presentations, Presenting Virtually by Patti Sanchez and Slide:ology by Nancy Duarte are my top recommendations.
Teaching in Everyday Leadership
One-on-Ones
Teach the model behind a decision, not only the choice. Your team will learn how to reason independently instead of waiting for escalation.
Slack & Email
Lead with the outcome, then the minimum evidence, then the ask. If the thread grows beyond five messages, summarize and reset the triangle: restate the message, restate the audience, restate your role.
Team Meetings
Move from broadcast to co-creation. Open with objectives, inputs, and constraints. Facilitate subject-subject collaboration instead of subject-object download. Close with commitments in writing.
Diagnosing Communication Failures
You can use these three relationships to help identify where a breakdown in communication is happening.
Confusion signals a knowledge architecture problem. Simplify the structure, define terms, and cut scope.
Disengagement or defensiveness signals an audience engagement problem. Change the sequence, add micro-interactions, and increase relevance.
Distrust signals a relational influence problem. Adjust tone, increase transparency, and credit contributions.
Turn vague complaints into concrete remediation. Pick the axis, then fix the design.
Mini Templates
Still a little unclear? Here are three examples of how to apply the Pedagogical Triangle to different business communications.
One-page Decision Memo
Purpose - One sentence that names the decision and the outcome.
Decision - State the decision in a single sentence that can be quoted.
Rationale - Three bullets that tie evidence to criteria.
Alternatives Considered - Two or three short lines that show you explored the space.
Risks and Mitigations - Two lines that state what could go wrong and how you will watch and respond.
Next Steps - Owners, dates, and a simple success measure.
Strategy Pitch Outline
Context - Where we are now and the constraint that matters.
Problem framing - What must be true for us to win.
Principles - Three rules that will guide tradeoffs.
Options - A short table of approaches with tradeoffs.
Recommendation - The path you prefer and why.
Risks - What you will measure to know if the strategy needs to change.
Decision needed - The specific approval and the resources required.
Meeting Agenda
Objective - The decision or output required.
Inputs - The minimum material to review in advance.
Constraints - Time, scope, or compliance boundaries that limit the solution space.
Sequence of questions - The order in which the group will resolve uncertainty.
Decision rule - How approval will be granted.
Time boxes - Allocated minutes for each segment.
Close - Owners, dates, and the communication plan.
Help People Learn
The Pedagogical Triangle sounds like a lot of work, but it is not a classroom artifact. It is a leadership tool. When you treat yourself as a teacher, your peers as learners, and your message as curriculum, you turn communication into practice. The teams that learn fastest win. One of the greatest compliments I was ever paid was from a friend and colleague who said, “Jon, you just like to help people learn,” and you can carry that same spark through in your communications.
Try It Yourself
In your next decision memo, tag one paragraph as Knowledge Architecture, one as Audience Engagement, and one as Relational Influence. Trim everything that does not serve those three. Send it, then ask your audience one question: “did this teach you what you needed to act?”