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Having trouble reading this email? View in your browser	March 2011 Newsletter

The 5C’s – Simple Tips on Communications

Communications are VITAL to Your Business

We can ALL improve our communications efforts. Whether for public speaking or advertising purposes, many of us need to communicate in some capacity to help our business grow.

Here are a few simple communications tips. This is the abbreviated version. Links to the full blog posts are available at the end.

TIP #1 – CONTEXT

The first step in planning a communication piece is to consider the context. Think about your audience and how they’ll be taking in what you have to say. You don’t always present the same content (or with the same style) to every audience. The same is true with the communication medium. Presenting in a live speech is much different from communicating in print.

You can re-purpose content but you should not, for example, simply take a transcript of a speech and post it to a blog. When posting online your readers will need visual cues from fonts, whereas tonal qualities can be used in a speech.

TIP #2 – CLARITY

If you’re like me, you really don’t like it when a speaker or a writer leaves you wondering what they were trying to say.

Our aim, as communicators, is to deliver content in a way that can be easily understood. So we have to pay attention to the idea of CLARITY. Consider things like Structure and Convention

STRUCTURE: An orderly progression of ideas that makes sense. People need to know how each point fits in the overall structure. They don’t want to get lost in a bunch of ideas that seem difficult to categorize. A lot of worthwhile information can get lost in an unorganized approach.

CONVENTION: Using a consistent font and layout convention makes it much easier for a reader to process information. Be sure to use indents the same way throughout. You can use different fonts, but be consistent. If you use a different font for a topic header, do it consistently.

TIP #3 – BE CONCISE

Being concise relates to the context. This set of tips has been shortened from series of blog posts. This series of posts was originally one single oral presentation. I wouldn’t put the whole presentation in one post or newsletter.

TIP #4 – BE COMPLETE in your message

While being concise, you also want to be COMPLETE. Don’t say EVERYTHING, but say everything that NEEDS to be said at that time. Don’t leave out important details.

TIP #5 – BE COMPELLING

Make sure that your message is COMPELLING. This is especially true when you’re writing ad copy and thinking about your call to action. What do you want your audience to DO? Don’t let your marketing materials become flat and lifeless with no purpose.

BONUS TIP #6 – Don’t Forget to Proofread!

It’s easy to get in a hurry and fail to check your work. Even when you check it you can get it wrong. Get another set of eyes to check it out whenever possible. And don’t rely too heavily on spell check. The wrong word spelled correctly will make you look bad.

MORE COMMUNICATIONS TIPS:
Communications Tip 1: Context
Communications Tip 2: Clarity
Communications Tip 3: Be Concise
Communications Tip 4: Be Complete
Communications Tip 5: Be Compelling
Communications Tip 6: Proofread