When you write, does everything that you put down on paper deliver exceptional value? Or is there a certain amount of low-value filler that invades your communications?
There are three strategies that can significantly upgrade your value in the eyes of your audience:
- Target: right audience – right message: What is high value to one group holds no (or low) value for others. Either your message must be customized precisely for your audience, or you must find the precise audience for your message.
- Audition: Every sentence must deliver value, or it should be cut. Low value sentences (and words) get in the way of high-value ones, and reduce the impact dramatically.
- Edit: There are many ways to say the same thing. So how do you know the first thing you write down is the “best” the way of communicating it? (It won’t be.) Editing not only sharpens your ideas, but gives you the chance to sharpen how you deliver them.
This week’s action plan: Target-Audition-Edit doesn’t just work for what you write. This week, use this approach as you prep for your next presentation. And to maximize your impact, add one more element: rehearsal. No audience is satisfied with empty calories.
Tipsheet postscript: I use this approach for these tipsheets, my books and for my keynote speeches. Increasing your value per word strengthens your brand; delivering fluff destroys it.
Note: The Make It Happen Tipsheet is also available by email. Go to www.RandallCraig.com to register.
Randall Craig
@RandallCraig (follow me)
www.RandallCraig.com: Professional credentials site
www.108ideaspace.com: Web strategy, technology, and development
www.ProfessionallySpeakingTV.com: Interviews with the nation’s thought-leaders
About Randall Craig
Randall has been advising on Web and Social Strategy since 1994 when he put the Toronto Star online, the Globe and Mail's GlobeInvestor/Globefund, several financial institutions, and about 100+ other major organizations. He is the author of seven books, including the recently released "Everything Guide to Starting an Online Business", and speaks across North America on Social Media and Web Strategy. More at randallcraig.com and 108ideaspace.com.
