Welcome to Part 4 in my new email series called The Executive Edit.

Today we will be looking at 5 ways to make sure your audience remembers your message.

Part 4 – Catchy Style

At a base level you want to present intelligent ideas clearly, so your audience grasps your message.

You don’t want them being like Homer Simpson, who said, “When I don't understand, I just make it up.”

And, if they don’t understand you, they WILL make it up.

Being clear and then going the next step so they remember your message requires a whole lot more effort.

The most helpful strategy I know is to read your work out loud to yourself (or a pet) to check for five stylistic tricks that imprint your messages on your audience's minds.

Here are the five things to look for. Have you:

1. Adopted language that will appeal to your audience? (e.g., for a management board: “We need to reduce risks in our supply chain by cutting the overtime maximum for each driver” rather than “We need to stop Fred pulling 20-hour shifts to cut the risk of him crashing his rig” which might suit his immediate supervisor)
2. Used alliteration and patterns? My high-level points for this document do both. I have four C's as well as an adjective-noun pattern that forms a rhythm: Clear thinking, concise language, consistent presentation, and catchy style.
3. Chosen strong and varied verbs? (especially avoid variations of “to be” verbs, e.g., am, are, is, was, were)
4. Used examples and stories to position dry facts in a real-life context? (e.g., Do this: “Ned from Newcastle is understandably frustrated. He has to wait 10 days to receive his online stationery order, while Bill from Bankstown receives his within 24 hours, even though both live within 1 km of one of our stores”. Don’t do this this: “Delivery times for online orders take 10 times as long to arrive for Newcastle residents than for people in Bankstown”)
5. Checked for “the cringe”? If you cringe or stumble while reading your work out loud, you will know that the rhythm or language is off.

I hope you find that useful.

Davina

P.S Don’t forget to download a copy of Part 4 of the Executive Edit to keep on hand.

WANT TO LISTEN?

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2. Richard Medcalf – Making Time for Strategy
3. Baking Learning & Growth into BAU
4. Helping Leaders ‘shift testing left' to derisk projects
5. A Case Study in Digitial Transformation
6. How to help a senior leader come back from a misstep
7. How to hit the ground running in a big new role
8. How to communicate during great change
9. How to turbo charge your transformation

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This is part 3 in my new email series called The Executive Edit.  

Today we will be looking at how to ensure consistent presentation throughout your comm. 

Part 3 – Consistent Presentation 

It is sensible to assume that different communication formats require different approaches.

Emails and papers include more words and fewer images, and PowerPoint is the reverse. However, some common presentation principles apply across all forms. 

Changing the way you view your communication while testing for four specific things will help inconsistencies stand out. 

Here are 4 tactics for you to use: 

Try one or more of these ways to “change the way you view your communication”: 

1. Change the “view” on your computer to presentation mode or print layout and flick through your slides or pages one by one 
2. Print your draft on paper and flick through the pages quickly so you focus on alignment and other aspects of the presentation's consistency, not the micro details 
3. Do a dry run through in a meeting room similar to the one you might present in 
4. Check for these patterns that help your reader follow you: 
   1. Use a consistent visual layout throughout, (i.e., colour theme, font families, sizing, spacing and alignment)
   2. Present ideas in each section so they are “parallel” (i.e., “Design strategy, Develop storyline structure, Deliver communication,” not “Design strategy, Developing structure, Delivery of communication”)
   3. Use the same words for the same things throughout (e.g., a budget is always a budget, not a budget, a cost plan and a forecast) 

I hope you find that useful. More soon. 

Davina 

P.S Don’t forget to download a copy of Part 3 of the Executive Edit to keep on hand. 

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For the next few weeks, we are exploring a new series called The Executive Edit.

This week’s insight is centered around making sure we use concise language.

But first…

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Part 2 – Concise Language

I remember all too well putting the corporate newspaper I had edited to bed only to have a typo jump out at me as soon as I opened the printed version.

Not only was it there, but it seemed like it leapt up to hit me in the nose the minute I opened it.

What was happening here?

This paper had been proofed by at least three people.

We were all way too close to it, and we were seeing what we thought was on the page, not what was actually there.

Here are three strategies to help you avoid this and really see what’s on the page:

1. Do something different for a while before coming back to proofreading. This might include focusing on a different task, going for a walk, getting a coffee, talking to someone about something unrelated to the communication, and then reviewing it again
2. Read it backwards. You will see the word-by-word and number-by-number inconsistencies in a totally different way
3. Focus on the most important aspects of language: Be ruthless—cull words until all of your sentences are 25 words or less. Culling forces you to synthesise your ideas crisply. Use active voice (i.e., “We recommend,” not “It is recommended that”). Notice how the more active version is shorter? Describe what data points mean, not just what they “are” (e.g., “We should acquire X for $1.23 per share” not “Acquisition criteria is $1.23 per share”)

I hope you find that useful. More soon.

Davina

P.S Feel free to download a copy of Part 2 of the Executive Edit to keep on hand.

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