Effective Communication
When I started as a newsletter writer and publisher, I
thought good writing and design were the criteria of a
successful publication.
 
But, as I became more involved with my clients, and their
expectations, I realized I'd been wrong. The quality of
writing might be good, bad, or indifferent; they didn't
really care. For them, effective communication meant just
one thing: Getting the right responses from their readers.
 
And, the more I thought about that, the more I realized
that all effective communication involves the right kinds
or the right numbers of responses.
 
When we communicate, we want something to happen. We want a
particular result or results. And, when we communicate with
results in mind, we're working toward effective
communication.
 
Good writing and speaking do help us get a response, of
course, because they help get the message across. As I've
argued in my book, A Manager's Guide to Newsletters:
Communicating for Results, a newsletter that doesn't get
read cannot get a response from readers.
 
So, writing, designing, speaking, and all those other
creative activities matter. But, in the end, responses are
what count, and effective communication means getting the
responses we want.
 
That's true for all types of effective communication, and
not just marketing campaigns. Managers who send messages to
employees, for example, want employees to respond in a
particular way. Maybe they want the employees to do
something differently, or maybe they want to reinforce
existing behaviors.
 
For a couple of employee newsletters I published, effective
communication meant greater awareness of health and safety
issues. If the newsletter communicated effectively, then it
should have helped reduce the number of plant accidents and
helped employees lead healthier lifestyles.
 
One more point: Effective communication cannot be achieved
without articulated objectives. As the old adage goes, "If
you don't know where you're going, any road will do." Or,
as the inimitable Yogi Berra put it, "If you don't know
where you are going... You might end up someplace else."
 
With that, let's create a quick and easy checklist that
takes us through seven basic steps required for effective
communication:
 
1. What is your objective, what do you want to happen? Do
you want more sales, reduced employee turnover, renewals by
members? Be specific about your objectives, and if you can
attach time and dollar values to them so much the better.
 
2. What do readers or listeners need to do in terms of your
objective? What action should they take? What thoughts do
you want in their minds? Do you want to reinforce existing
thinking or behaviors?
 
3. Understand why they would respond to your message. It's
all very well for you to have objectives and to send
messages, but you'll also have to offer something to them,
something they value. Think of commercial broadcasting, in
which you get free entertainment in exchange for listening
to (and sometimes responding to) commercials.
 
4. What message content will motivate them to act? What
subjects will prompt them to act? For effective
communication, look for topics that engage and motivate
readers or listeners.
 
5. How will you present that content? Editorial approaches
for effective communication include: entertaining,
informing, consulting, challenging, and solving problems.
 
6. How often will you have to repeat the message? In many
cases, you'll need multiple contacts to get the response
you want. Sales people, for example, generally figure on an
average of seven contacts before a prospect becomes a
client or potential client.
 
7. If you quantified your objectives, does the return from
meeting the objective exceed the cost of communicating? In
a marketing context, for example, how many sales would you
have to make to pay the cost of your advertising campaign?
 
In summary, aim for effective communication by following
these seven steps. They move us in the right direction
because they force us to think about reader and listener
responses. And, when we focus on responses, we're much more
likely to get the results we want.
 
 
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Robert F. Abbott, is the author of "3 Easy Ways to Power Up
Your Writing." Increase your mastery of business
communication by reading his easy-to-understand articles at
articles in several business communication categories.
 
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