Barb Mayfield- Barb Mayfield
Make your messages remarkable! Achieve the 3 M's of impact.
What type of messages do you want to create?
Messages audiences find understandable and relatable, or ones that confuse?
Messages audiences can’t stop thinking about, or ones that are quickly forgotten?
Messages that inspire, or ones that don’t even attract attention and engagement?
Easy answer – we want messages that are remarkable. Messages that achieve the 3 M’s of impact: meaningful, memorable, and motivating.
Writing and organizing a message is Step 5 in the 10 Steps to Creating Compelling Communication. To be effective, we must first identify our audience (Step 1), understand what they need (Step 2), determine our purpose and key points (Step 3), and find supporting evidence that is current, accurate, and useful (Step 4), before tackling Step 5, which is crafting messages that are meaningful, memorable, and motivating.
How do we go about completing this important 5th step in the communication design process?
Brainstorm potential content based on your needs assessment and research.
Group content ideas into themes and organize by your key points. If an idea doesn’t fit, don’t include it.
Fill gaps as needed with additional supporting evidence and examples. Have you addressed your audience’s main questions and concerns?
Discard anything that is unnecessary or distracting from making your message clear, concise, and compelling.
Select a structure for your communication that tells a logical story and provides meaningful connections.
Create an outline; see below for components to include.
Craft your message!
Outlining communication, whether it is for a written article, a presentation, a video, or something else, includes a solid introduction, body, and conclusion, which accomplish the following:
Introduction:
Captures attention
Builds credibility and rapport
Connects to audience’s current knowledge and experiences
Establishes benefits to the audience
Provides an overview of key points/questions to be answered
Body:
Maintains attention
Provides understandable and useful information
Organized around key points
Tells a “story” with smooth transitions
Provides ample illustrations and evidence
Conclusion:
Provides closure
Summarizes key points
Provides a call to action
Acknowledges future directions
Uses a memorable ending
Need help completing this step? Chapters 10, 15, and 16 in Communicating Nutrition: The Authoritative Guide provide expert guidance on developing messages that make an impact.
“… the effective communicator incorporates strategies that help the audience attend to the message, make sense of the message, store it in long-term memory, and apply it in their lives.” (Page 272, Communicating Nutrition: The Authoritative Guide)
Make your messages remarkable! Achieve the 3 M's of impact: Messages that are meaningful, memorable, and motivating.
Next week’s blog will cover Step 6: Identify Communication Channel.
“The two words ‘information’ and ‘communication’ are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through.” ~ Sydney J. Harris
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