I am yet to meet a person who admits to being a poor communicator, the implication is that we all think we are good. Ten minutes on any social media will prove that we are not. I am not going to attempt to diagnose all the ailments and causes, although it might make an interesting book topic. Instead let’s go through my steps for clean, crisp, considered communication in this age of connection. Alignment is the key to getting this right;
Step 1 – What is the purpose of your communication?
All the best communicators I have met know exactly why they are putting a piece of communication out there. Ironically, the very best struggle to communicate this when asked. This can make finding the best marketers and creatives difficult because they are often unconsciously competent. They are extremely rare, so it is best to assume that you are not one and consciously consider the purpose.
Step 2 – Consider your audience. Who is your audience?
Even if you think you have an audience of one, say by replying to an email directly, you may not. What will the reaction be when the email is forwarded to the whole department? Don’t get paranoid, all I am saying is consider that you may have more than one audience. Consider at least three levels is my advice. A fail-safe test a senior member of the civil service shared with me is the Daily Mail test. How would you feel if your email was published on the front page of the Daily Mail?
This point has proven contentious on occasion. When considering your primary audience try to create an avatar. Make your avatar as detailed as you can (especially for sales and marketing). This is where some people can feel a little uncomfortable, as it can touch on sex, race, religion, gender, etc… Here is my view. If we step away from contentious profile issues and go with say language. If you wrote an email to me in English and I replied in Spanish, knowing full well that you do not speak (read) Spanish it would not be effective communication. Some might say even a little offensive. I will leave that with you…
Step 3 – What is the message?
As you can already see, you may have more than one audience. You may also have more than one purpose. Things can get complicated quickly. If it has, and before deciding the message(s), then consider breaking it down into two or more separate pieces of communication if possible. This should get things back into focus.
Regarding focus, you only want one message ideally. The science tells us that if you go beyond three messages most of us will retain nothing. Less is more when communicating, especially to a large audience. In line with this, I will come back to this in a future blog as messaging is critical…
Step 4 – How will the message be delivered? Through what media?
Before we get all tangled up in social media, I want to be clear, I refer to them as channels. What I mean by media (in this context) is how the message will be delivered, and hence received. You only have four media choices;
The written word (blog, book, newspaper)
Audio (podcast, radio, audiobook)
Visual (photograph, graphic, silent video)
Audio-visual (TV, streaming services)
You may choose to use all four. Your next choice is whether to do something live or pre-recorded. All these choices, including which channels (social and other media, events, etc…), should be made to ensure they align with your purpose and getting your message in front of as many of your target audience as possible. Everything should align, including…
Step 5 – Who will deliver the message and when?
Regarding when, I say that “getting it right rather than getting it out”, is the most important thing to remember. Beyond this, consider the time of day, week, month, year and how this influences your primary audience. There is no point putting messages out to teenage boys at 6am at the weekend for example. Unless you have a cure for insomnia for them.
When deciding who will deliver the message you may not have a choice. If you do, I strongly advise choosing based on the following;
Credibility – the most credible with your primary audience
Connection – who your audience is most likely to connect with
Charisma – a bit of personality still goes a long way...
Step 6 – How will you measure success?
This step closes the loop and helps avoid unnecessary costs. What you choose to measure should be based entirely on the purpose you created at the start. Only now it needs quantifying. If it does not have a number it cannot be measured, no matter what anyone tries to persuade you. If you are investing your resources (time, energy, money) your businesses’ or someone else’s then do not shy away from asking for a measurable return.
When I started my blog (May 2019) I decided I would invest six months (you can read my purpose statement here). If I received one message that showed I was meeting my purpose I would continue, if not then I would stop. I am happy to say I got two in the first couple of months.
There are three other vital steps that will transform your oral communication. Click subscribe and I will send them to you.
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Be happy, healthy and helpful
Paul
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