Your message is crafted and your channels are chosen; how will you deliver the message to your audience for the greatest impact?
You want to create communication that makes a difference. What is the best way to accomplish this goal?
Answer: You select the most effective communication strategies, those that are proven to gain and maintain attention, provide meaningful context, and inspire learning and taking action.
Plan effective communication strategies
Planning effective communication strategies is Step 7 in the 10 Steps to Creating Compelling Communication. You are now primed and ready to get creative! You are well prepared for this step by completing the first six:
Identifying your audience (Step 1),
conducting a needs assessment (Step 2),
determining your purpose and key points (Step 3),
researching supporting evidence that is current, accurate, and useful (Step 4),
writing and organizing your message (Step 5), and
identifying your communication channels (Step 6).
Step 7 is a BIG step with many essential parts and all prior steps lead up to this one. See the 10 steps document to organize your thinking.
How do you plan effective communication strategies?
Begin with the outline created in Step 5 and flesh out the approaches and strategies that will most effectively deliver your message to your audience from start to finish. The illustration above shows a popular technique that employs sticky notes to brainstorm ideas to use in each of the following areas of your outline:
Introduction:
Select delivery approaches that gain your audience’s attention, create a connection and develop rapport, establish relevance, stimulate recall of prior knowledge and experiences, inform the audience of your overall goal and key points, and motivate them to listen, learn, and act.
Body:
Select strategies to deliver each key point that verbally and visually engage the audience, creatively matching their abilities, learning style preferences, interests, needs, and concerns. Incorporate a variety of strategies. Provide meaningful context that relates the information to the audience’s lives. Include interactive strategies that involve the audience and help them put the information into practice.
Closing:
Select strategies that effectively summarize the key messages and make a meaningful and memorable impact. Provide a motivating take-home message and an opportunity for audience reflection and application.
And more:
Step 7 also includes preparing for audience questions, determining appropriate methods for assessing if the desired objectives were met, evaluating your communication, and planning strategies to market the communication. These are often afterthoughts that when left undone or poorly done can be disastrous.
Need help completing this step?
Many chapters in Communicating Nutrition: The Authoritative Guide provide expert guidance on best practices and practical strategies for effectively delivering communication:
Chapter 16: Organizing content, choosing strategies for various learning styles
Chapter 17: Creating strong openings and closings
Chapter 18: Effectively using visual aids
Chapter 19: Employing facilitated discussions
Chapter 20: Engaging the audience with participation strategies
Chapter 21: Using effective presentation strategies
Chapter 22: Writing effectively
Chapter 24: Creating video
Chapter 25: Demonstrating effectively
Chapter 31: Communicating effectively online
Chapter 32: Interviewing effectively
Chapter 36: Preparing for questions
Chapter 37: Marketing effectively
Chapter 38: Evaluating to promote successful communication
Want to create communication that makes a difference? Plan an effective delivery.
“The two words ‘information’ and ‘communication’ are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through.” ~ Sydney J. Harris
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