Great work isn't enough on it's own.
To get buy-in, adoption, and ultimately, results, we have to communicate at a high level. Simply sharing a message won't ensure it's heard.
No one is immune to this. I've seen it first-hand in small business, startups, and public firms.
Mastering communication can transform how your work is received and acted upon. I'm still learning this myself. And it's more important in my role today leading strategy than ever before.
Great communicators incorporate these three components into every message...
1. What: the core idea or the main point you want to convey
- Provides clarity and focus for the audience.
- Ensures everyone understands the subject at hand.
- Sets the foundation for further discussion.
Ex: "We need to improve our customer service response times."
2. So what: connecting core idea to its relevance and impact
- Highlight the message significance
- Engage by showing the implications
- Motivate through benefits & consequences
Ex: "Improving our response times has a direct correlation to increased loyalty and higher sales."
3. Now what: turning message into a CTA
- Guide on how to respond or implement the message.
- Encourage immediate action and follow-through.
- Clarify next steps to ensure progress.
Ex: " Today, we're implementing a new software to track and optimize response times."
All together it would look like this:
"We need to improve our customer service response times because improving our response times has a direct correlation to increased loyalty and higher sales. Today, we're implementing a new software to track and optimize response times."
Another variation of this is the And-But-Therefore
Ex: "Our customer service team works hard and handles many inquiries. But, our response times are lagging behind industry standards. Therefore, we are implementing new training and software."
Keep refining your communication skills, and watch as your ability to influence and lead grows.