COMMUNICATION STRATEGY PREVIEW

Strategic communication is based on four interactive

variables:

Communicator Strategy

Audience Strategy

Message Strategy

Channel Choice Strategy

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COMMUNICATOR
STRATEGY
What is your objective?

What communication style do you choose?

WHAT IS YOUR OBJECTIVE?

Effective

strategic communicators are

those who receive their desired
response.

To

clarify this outcome hone your

thoughts from the general to the specific

General

objective: This is your broad

overall goal toward which each separate
communication will aim.

Action objective: Then, break down your general

goal into a consciously planned series of action
outcomes specific, measurable, time-bound
steps that will lead toward your general
objectives. State your action objectives in this
form: To accomplish a specific result by a
specific time.
Communication objective: Your communication
objective is even more specific. It is focused on
the result you hope to achieve from a single
communication episode such as a report, email
or presentation. To create a communication
objective, start with the phrase: As a result of
this communication, my audience will.

WHAT IS YOUR OBJECTIVE?

Writing such an objective benefits you in many

ways. For example,
it saves you time by preventing you from
researching topics you wont end up using or from
making dozens of slides no one will see.
It provides clues about how to open and close
your talk.
And, if some of your presentation time gets cut, it
helps you figure out how to adjust on the spot.

WHAT IS YOUR OBJECTIVE? HANDOUT - PAGE

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General Objective
Increase customer
base

Develop a sound
financial position

Action Objective

Communication

Objective
Sign with 20 new
As a result of this
clients each month.
letter, the client will
sign and return the
contract.
Maintain annual
As a result of this
debt-to-equity ratio no email, the accountant
greater than X.
will give me the
quarterly expense
information for my
report.
As a result of this
report, the board will
approve my

WHAT IS YOUR OBJECTIVE?

Consider this simple objective: As a result of my

presentation, the audience will agree to include us on their
approved supplier list. although it meets the criteria
reviewed so far, this objective wouldnt help you decide what
to include in your pitch.
To make it more useful:
1] identify key messages by inserting benefit statements or
specifying take-away points or
2] include supplemental targets, which might refer to
attitudes or emotions.

Many things you say will not, in fact, be heard and

remembered, which is why you need to limit the number of
main points highlighted in a presentation.

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COMMUNICATOR STRATEGY - WHAT

COMMUNICATION STYLE DO YOU CHOOSE?

As you define your communication objective, choose the

appropriate style to reach that objective.
The given diagram displays the range of communication
styles used in virtually every job at various times.

Instead of trying to find one right style, use the

appropriate style at the appropriate time and avoid using
the same style all of the time.

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WHEN TO USE A COMBINATION OF

STYLES

In an ongoing communication project, you may

need to use a combination of styles: for example,

join to brainstorm ideas,

consult to choose one of those ideas,

sell to persuade your boss to adopt that idea, and

tell to write up the idea once it becomes policy.

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AUDIENCE STRATEGY
What do they know and expect?
What do they feel?

What will persuade them?

WHAT DO THEY KNOW AND

EXPECT?

Empathize with the novices simplify the information

use familiar examples to explain difficult concepts. Try
comparing a complex procedure to an everyday activity
or incorporating several concrete examples to make an
abstract idea less confusing.
Deal with mixed background needs: provide
background material for novices, such as sending an
article or CD in advance or adding a glossary of
technical terms or an email attachment. Acknowledge
the experts by saying something like As those of you
who have been through this before know.. or Just to
bring our visitors up to date..
Aim your message toward your key decision-maker.

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WHAT DO THEY FEEL?

How interested are they in your message?
If their interest level is high
In

these cases, you can get right to the point

without taking much time to arouse their interest.

Build
Do

a good logical argument.

not expect a change of opinion without

continued effort over time; however, if you can
persuade them, their change will be more
permanent than changes in a low-interest
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audience.

IF THEIR INTEREST LEVEL IS LOW:

In these cases, think about using a consult/join

style and ask them to participate: one of the
strongest ways to build support is to share
control.

If,

however, you are using a tell/sell style, try to

persuade them with audience benefits, your
credibility, and message structure.

In

addition, keep your message as short as

possible;

Finally,

for low-interest audiences, act quickly on

attitude changes because they may not be
permanent.

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WHAT DO THEY FEEL?

What is their probable bias: positive or negative?

Positive

or neutral: If they are positive or

neutral, reinforce their existing attitude by
stating the benefits that will accrue from your
message.

Negative:

If they are negative, try one or more

of these techniques:

1] convince them that there is a problem, then

solve the problem.

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BIAS NEGATIVE..
2] state

points with which you think they will agree

first; if audience members are sold on two or three
key features of your proposal, they will tend to sell
themselves on the other features as well.

3] limit your request to the smallest one possible,

such as a pilot program rather than a full program
right away.
4] respond to anticipated objections: you will be more
persuasive by stating and rejecting alternatives
yourself, instead of allowing them to devise their
own, which they will be less likely to reject.
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WHAT WILL PERSUADE THEM?

Think about how you can be most persuasive
by
1] emphasizing your audience benefits
2] drawing on your own credibility
3] structuring the way you organize your
message.

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PERSUADE WITH AUDIENCE BENEFITS

Always stress whats in it for them
Career or task benefits:

1] Show how your message will enhance your

audiences job (such as making it easier or
more convenient).
2] Appeal to the task itself (such as the chance
to be challenged or participate in tough
problem solving),
3] emphasize their career advancement or
prestige (such as organizational recognition or
reputation enhancement).

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PERSUADE WITH AUDIENCE BENEFITS

Ego benefits: Enhance their sense of self-worth,
accomplishment, and achievement, with formal
statements, informal praises, or nonverbal nods or
perhaps even hand slaps.
Bandwagon appeal/Group benefits: For grouporiented audiences, emphasize

1] the benefits to the group as a whole, such as

group enhancements or sense of group worth;
2] group consensus over individual preferences;
and
3] group comparisons, such as benchmarking or
bandwagon (everyone else is doing it).

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PERSUADE WITH AUDIENCE

BENEFITS
Personality benefits: Different personalities
persuaded differently.

Persuade thinkers with lots of data,

Skeptics with lots of credibility,

Unemotional people with rationality,

are

Emotional people with enthusiasm, passion and

energy.
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PERSUADE WITH AUDIENCE BENEFITS

If your key decision-maker frequently wants

to find out what your competitors are doing,
then he might be a fan of benchmarking.
If he spends lot of time asking questions
about the column charts on your slides,
then bottom-line reasoning might be a
better option. To use bottom-line reasoning,
you need to collect quantitative data,
analyze it, and develop a logical story line.

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PERSUADE WITH AUDIENCE

BENEFITS
Benchmarking Corporations have used

benchmarking for decades to chart progress or

make comparisons.

This technique is useful in situations involving

change or uncertainty. It requires finding out
what others are doing and comparing that
information to what your company is doing.
For example, when looking at best practices
for campus recruiting, an executive will be
most impressed when those practices are used
by companies he respects.

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GENDER-BASED TENDENCIES

Sometimes it's useful to think about the differences

between men and women. Research shows,

men tend to take arguments impersonally, women

personally;
men seek quick authoritative decisions, women use
consensus building;
men use stronger language even when they're not sure,
women use more qualified language even when they are
sure;
Men use less active listening, women use more.

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PERSUADE WITH AUDIENCE BENEFITS

HANDOUT P.17-20

Consistency reminders For example, if a CEO has

recently praised his organizations values, he will
feel the pull of consistency if you can show how your
recommendations are linked to those values.
Similarly, if you can get your audience to agree
yes, there is a security problem, then they will be
more willing to explore solutions to that problem.

Build support with benefit statements All

products, services, and ideas have many features.
Some of these features could be turned into a
benefit statement.

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PERSUADE WITH CREDIBILITY -HANDOUT

- PAGE
12 techniques to apply your credibility as a
Here are some
persuasive tool. Remember, the less your audience is
involved in the topic or issue, the more important your
credibility is as a factor for persuasion.

Shared values credibility and common ground :

Establishing a common ground with your audience is
highly persuasive, especially when done at the beginning
of your message. For example, refer to goals you share
with your audience before focusing on your controversial
recommendation to achieve them.
Goodwill credibility and liking: People tend to be more
persuaded by people they like. So, taking the time to meet
your audience one-to-one, to establish a relationship, to
uncover real similarities, and to offer genuine praise will
make you more persuasive in the long run.

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PERSUADE WITH CREDIBILITY

Image credibility and emotionality: Another way to

persuade is to connect emotionally with your
audience. Show your emotional commitments and
adjust your emotions to your audiences emotional
state.

Rank and expertise credibility by association:

Sometimes, rank and expertise can be persuasive.
So, either refer to your own rank or expertise, or
else use rank or expertise by association (for
example, have the CEO introduce you or cite
credible experts). If you have succeeded with
certain relevant projects, then referring to those
efforts may bolster your credibility.

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CREDIBILITY ENHANCEMENT
TECHNIQUES

Personal credibility is especially important in flatter,

more decentralized organizations.

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Integrity having a sense of values and adhering to

them
Honesty telling truth though tactfully not painfully
Sincerity concern for audience needs
Fairness considering all sides of an issue and
justice for all involved
Openness considering diverse points of view;
the absence of a perceived hidden agenda

12/02/15

Personal credibility based on audiences perception

of you

ORGANIZATIONAL CREDIBILITY
HANDOUT P.20

12/02/15

Legitimate power useful in hierarchical organizations

for CEO/VP

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I have decided to change our method of trip

reimbursements to better reflect overall strategic goals.

Referent power with peers/less hierarchical

organizations
We have all had problems with the current method
of travel reimbursements (list the problems).
Then, explain how the new system will solve all those
problems.
Expert power useful in all organizations. Explain
how you came up with the new travel reimbursement
system using your expertise to do so.

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MESSAGE STRATEGY
Emphasize your conclusion

EMPHASIZE YOUR CONCLUSION

As the Audience Memory Curve implies, you should.

Never bury important conclusions in the middle of your

message.
Since the first and last parts of your presentation are most likely
to be remembered: therefore, make sure your opening and
closing are linked to your presentation objective in some way.
Try to hold your audiences attention in the middle of your
message by using persuasion techniques.

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USE THE DIRECT APPROACH WHENEVER

POSSIBLE
Improves comprehension and saves time: people
assimilate content more readily when they know the
conclusions first.
Therefore, the direct approach is appropriate over
90% of the time for

All non-sensitive messages

Sensitive messages if
1] the audience has a positive or neutral bias,
2] they are result-oriented, or
3] your credibility is high.

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USE AN INDIRECT APPROACH WITH

CAUTION
The indirect approach is harder to follow
and takes longer to understand, hence use
it when
You

want to soften audience resistance to

an unpopular idea or

To

increase their likelihood of seeing you

as fair-minded.
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USE AN INDIRECT APPROACH WITH

CAUTION

Audience and message constraints Use an

indirect approach when you have :

1] a highly sensitive message, low credibility,

and a negatively biased or a hostile audience,
or
2] an analysis-oriented decision-maker who
insists upon it.

Cultural norms, when you are in another

culture in which the direct approach would
be viewed as inappropriate or pushy.

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PREVIEW DIRECT/INDIRECT
APPROACH
Example of a preview statement using a direct approach:

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In the time remaining this morning, I want to explain the

benefits of the new system. First, I will demonstrate how these
guidelines will save you time; second, I will point out how you
can use them to respond to clients billing questions. And finally,
I will explain how they address a complaint many of you had
about the old system.
Example of a preview statement using an indirect approach:
In the next 30 minutes I want to discuss two topics. First, I will
describe the record-keeping problems that have plagued our
billing system. Second, I will share three options we have in
dealing with them.

EXAMPLE

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CHANNEL CHOICE
STRATEGY

CHANNEL CHOICE STRATEGY

Traditional

writing is usually fairly

controlled, logical, and grammatically
correct and does not include nonverbal
cues.

Electronic

mail, however, may be less

reserved and controlled, more creative,
full of grammatical and typographical
mistakes, and emoticons such as : -),
to show nonverbal cues.

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WRITING OR SPEAKING
Writing

is the channel to use to keep a

permanent record, to get across a great
deal of detail, to use precise and studied
wording, or to have your audience
process your message quickly (reading is
faster than listening)

Speaking

is the channel to choose if you

need a richer communication
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(nonverbal cues), less rigidity and
permanence.

FORMAL CHANNEL
Formal channel for legal negotiations, key
ideas precise, controlled technical, logical,
focused, organized, informative, conclusive,
action-oriented and forceful
Writing memos, proposals, reports, letters
Speaking presentations, briefings, and
lectures.
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INFORMAL CHANNEL
Informal channel to gain new ideas from
others fast, interactive, uninhibited,
innovative, creative, open and flexible
Writing e-mail, notes, rough drafts
Speaking to a group interactive meetings,
group collaborations
Speaking to an individual face-to-face, voice
mail.

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CHANNEL CHOICE STRATEGY

If you dont have a choice about the channel, think
about how you can overcome its shortcomings

Providing hard copy along with your presentation

Following up with an email after a face-to-face
conversation to make sure there is no
misinterpretation of the message
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