What Do You Want To Say
Before you can decide what you want to say, to whom, make sure you understand why you want to say it. This means ensuring you have a set of clear and measurable objectives for your activity.
At every stage of the process, you should refer back to your objectives to make sure that the activity you are undertaking fits with what you want to achieve.
Once you know your objectives it’s easier to identify the key message (or proposition) that you want to communicate.
This message will form the main focus of any communication. It may be helpful to make a list of everything you want to say and decide which one is the most important.
Here are some helpful things to ask yourself
- Is this the most important thing that I want to say? Try and concentrate on just one point, even though there are lots of things that you want to include, by focussing on the main point your message will be stronger.
- Why should they believe this?
- How credible is your message and what supporting information might you need to provide people with to help convey your message
- What action do I want them to take?
- Is it clear what you are asking people to do on the back of your activity, how will taking part/calling etc be of benefit to them?
- Remember who it is you are talking to
Imagine you are speaking to a friend who is part of your target audience. What would you say to them to communicate your message?
Once you have your main message (proposition) this can be supported by the other information (or secondary messages) that you want to include.