Crafting a message

so that it lands with

different types of audiences

is no small feat.

Whether your audience

on any given day is a single individual

(customer, client, team member, family member)

or a larger group,

even if some elements of what you’re

addressing remain the same,

the positioning must adjust.

Examples need to be relevant,

the structure may change

and phrasing will need retooling.

In the last few days, my audiences

have ranged from franchisees

to front line sales teams,

event planners to entrepreneurs,

marketers in the agriculture business

to C-suite execs at global brands.

There’s a mistaken assumption by

people who hear I’m “on tour”

that it’s “rinse & repeat.”

It’s definitely NOT that.

In addition to learning about each

group’s challenges, projects,

and industry-specific issues,

a huge portion of my prep

is in thinking through

the angle of my messaging,

selecting relevant examples,

and delivering it all in

an engaging manner.

Every audience has its own

unique “psychographic,”

and thinking through the “way in”

can take hours.

But it pays off.

A communication mistake

I so often witness––even in

meetings or casual conversation––

is that the person speaking

forgoes these adjustments.

An experienced financial advisor

uses complex terminology with a

client new to the field; a tech expert

explains a computer issue

in words so foreign that the individual

they’re helping is lost

after half a sentence.

Being a good communicator

takes care.

It takes craft.

And it takes effort.

Be gracious. Scale back.

Get perspective on the audience’s

point of view.

Consider what might be most valuable–

not everything you know;

just what they need to know now

and delivered in a way

that they can absorb.

Risk Forward & Rock On,