While there are many components of effective communication, entrepreneurs should begin with the most critical, the message. You must take your vision and translate it into a clear, focused and compelling message that can be conveyed to all stakeholders.
What is your Message?
Your message is much more than simply answering the question “What do I want to say?” Investors, employees, clients are not there to hear what you want to say. They are there because some action or new way of thinking is expected of them. A better question is:
“What do I want my listeners to do and why should they do it?”
The answer to this simple question is your message. For example:
“Invest in my idea because you’ll get a great return.”
“Join my company because the opportunities are enormous.”
“Buy my product. It is the best on the market.”
These are messages at the most basic level. Every entrepreneur has a different story to tell and you will tailor these basic messages to ensure that your uniqueness shines through. The important thing is to make your message a good message. That means it must be clear, focused and compelling.
Clear
The audience MUST understand what you are saying, what you want them to do and why. It must be straightforward, follow logically and be heard above all the noise of your facts and figures. Never assume the audience knows what your message is unless you state it clearly. Clarity should never be taken for granted.
Focused
Your message must be laser sharp and should not attempt to convey too many things at once. For our purposes, focused means “short”. The attention span of the average American is short and getting shorter. Research shows from 8 to 30 seconds. If your message doesn’t fit within these ranges, it will probably be lost.
Compelling
Clarity and focus will ensure that the audience understands your message, but whether or not they will do anything about it depends on how compelling your message is. Regardless of the method of persuasion; hard logic, an emotional appeal or threatening their children, the message must compel the audience to act. This is the “why” part of the question “What do you want your audience to do and why should they do it?”
Now for the $64,000 question: How do I create a clear, focused and compelling message?
Try this simple exercise:
Look at your business plan and edit it down to an executive summary. Now take that piece and edit it down to 1 page without losing anything essential. Then edit that down to a ½ page, one paragraph, and finally one sentence that will take you no more than ten seconds to utter. As you edit, you’ll refine your thoughts into a crystal clear and concise statement - your message. Check it against the three criteria above and if it meets all of them, you’re golden!
LeeAundra Temescu, a nationally ranked public speaker and speech writer, is author of The Contrary Public Speaker: A Break-the-Rules Approach Presentations and founder of The Contrary Public Speaker, an executive communications coaching firm. She can be visited at www.TheContraryPublicSpeaker.com.