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Communications Planning

Getting the right messages across in the right way
By Rachel Thompson

Have you ever received a memo and felt the sender really wasn’t thinking about what you needed to know or hear? Maybe you have attended corporate presentations that have simply left you cold? Or perhaps you’ve even delivered communications yourself and realized, in retrospect, that you really hadn’t got the measure of your audience and their needs.

This is at best frustrating. At worst it is such a huge “turn off” that it can have a negative effect, or even produce an effect that is the exact opposite of the one you had intended.

Whether you need to communicate general day-to-day information or "big news" about major changes in your organization, the best communications start with some good planning.

The first step is to put yourself in the shoes of your audience. What do they need to know, and want to hear? What’s their preferred way of receiving information? What will stop them listening to what you have to say? And how will you know that they have got the message?

So there’s quite a bit more to good communications than preparing a good memo or presentation! This tool will help you through the preparation steps and so help you create an audience-focused communication plan that’s sure to get your message heard.

Market Your Message! Good corporate communications is very much like good marketing. You have a message (product) that you need to 'sell' to your audience (customers). If they are going to 'buy it', you must package the message so that they can understand it and pay attention to it. You must make sure the value and benefit outweigh any downsides (the 'price' you are asking them to pay). And you must reach the audience through the right communication channels. Then, following the communications (promotion), you must be able to measure the effectiveness and how well the message is 'bought'.

How to Use The Tool

Use the following steps to...(Sign in to read more.)

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New Articles (Not included in the Mind Tools E-book.)
* Shows articles available in full only to Career Excellence Club Premium members

Empathic Listening - Going beyond active listening*
Assertiveness - Working WITH people not against them*
Delivering Great Presentations - Communicating effectively*
Managing Presentation Nerves - Coping with the fear within
Facilitation - Guiding an event through to a successful conclusion
Giving and Receiving Feedback - Keeping team member performance high*
360 Degree Feedback - Encourage teamwork and improve performance*
AIDA: Attention-Interest-Desire-Action - Inspiring action with your writing
Questioning Techniques - Asking questions effectively
Keep It Simple - Avoiding confusion and complexity*
Creating a Value Proposition - Clearly communicating benefits*
Dealing with Unfair Criticism - Responding rationally to unwarranted criticism*
Charts and Graphs - Choosing the right format
Chunking - Grouping information so it's more easily understood*
The Rhetorical Triangle - Making your writing credible, appealing and logical*
Role Playing - Preparing for difficult conversations and situations
Powers of Persuasion - Understanding the dos and don'ts of persuading*
Communicating in a Crisis - Don't shut down communication*
Communicating Internationally*
Cross Culture Communication - Collaborative efforts a must!*
Communicating in Your Organization
Concept Attainment - Reaching a shared understanding of important ideas*
Jargon Busting - Communicating without creating barriers*
Neuro-Linguistic Programming - Achieving excellence in communication *
Delivering Bad News*

A full list of Mind Tools articles is available here.

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