Reaching Your Audience

As you learn in your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar, one of the keys to effective communication is to understand your target audience and tailor your message to reach that particular audience. You also need to consider which form of communication would be most effective in reaching that audience.

Recently, The New York Times mentioned a 14-year-old girl who sends and receives 27,000 text messages in a month. Whether this girl and her communication habits are typical or not, it's something for you to consider. If your audience is teenagers, then you really need to take this into consideration. If your target audience is an older one, know that these 14-year-olds are heading your way in the future. You may need to change your communication style, learn new behaviors and skills, and become comfortable with methods of communication that may seem strange to you. As the world changes, so must your style of communicating so that your message will have a chance to "break through" the clutter of today's world and have an impact on others.

Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com. You'll be a hero for doing it.

Privacy? No.

In June, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled on whether an employer was reasonable to search employee text messages. Unanimously, the court ruled that the search in this case was reasonable. This was not an all-encompassing decision, but it is one that will serve as a precedent in the future.

What does this mean to you? If you wouldn't say it in public, don't say it in a text, E-mail, or voice-mail, either. The Electronic Communication and Privacy Act lets your boss go through your E-mail at work. As technology continues to develop into new methods of communicating, new legislation and litigation will be needed to sort out what can and can't be done by employers. But, you will do well with an overall philosophy of "when in doubt, leave it out".

In your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar you learn that a great way to think of an E-mail message is that it's like the back of a postcard - just about anyone CAN read it, and chances are someone, other than the person you sent it to, WILL.

Call or E-mail today to schedule your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com. You'll be a hero for doing something that really helps people in today's world.

Watt a grate book

A book released last month is all about typos. Hopefully, it doesn't contain any. Two guys took a two-and-a-half month clockwise journey around the U.S. hunting for typos. They weren't disappointed. 437 errors were found on public signs. Some were misspellings, some were wrong forms of a word (they're, there, their), some were simple mistakes. 437 on display for public consumption.

In your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar, you learn the importance of Striving for Zero Defects. Everybody makes mistakes. The only people who don't make mistakes are dead people. The key is to keep your mistakes from ever seeing the light of day.

First of all, mistakes send a message about you, and, it's not a good one. More importantly, mistakes become distractions. The focus of your receiver goes off of your message and onto the mistake. You're essentially creating interference for your own message.

And, mistakes can cause confusion. Anything you can do to make it easier for your receiver to understand what you're talking about is in your best interests. So, use a spell check program. Have others proof your work before it ever sees the light of day. Whatever it takes to reach Zero Defects.

This isn't about being picky or anal retentive. It's about taking pride in your message and making it the best it can be so that it is as effective as it can be. And that's what you learn how to do in your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar.

Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com. You'll be a hero for doing it.

Even TV is delayed now

In your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar, you learn about the volume of "clutter" that your message has to overcome in today's world in order to get through to people. You also learn how that clutter makes it critically important for you to edit your message to within an inch of its life so that others get your point early and clearly. They simply don't have time to give your message attention for long, and they have too many other things pulling at them and distracting them. While you like to think that what you have to say is very important to others, their priorities probably lie elsewhere.

This really shows in the world of TV viewing today. To many, few things are as important as their favorite TV show, movie, or a game involving their favorite team. It used to be that everything came to a halt when that show or game was on. The phone was turned off. The doorbell wasn't answered. Whether it was for thirty minutes, an hour, or a three-hour game, time stood still. Not anymore.

A survey released last month shows that 62% of TV viewers now "time-shift" their programs, meaning that they watch the shows and games when it is convenient for them instead of when the programs are broadcast. Real life tends to get in the way of them enjoying something that's near and dear to them. So, they delay the broadcast, speed through it, and make it fit their schedules.

The same is true for you and your message. Your E-mail or voice-mail will be delayed until it is convenient for your receiver to give you attention. It will be scanned, skipped through, and glanced at. It's up to you to make certain that what they see and get from your message is what you need them to see and get. And that's what you'll learn how to do in your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar.

Call or E-mail today to schedule a "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com. You'll be a hero for doing it.

Less is more, here as well as there

It's official. There is now an unwritten policy in China that bureaucrats need to edit what they say and stop talking and talking and talking. Amen.

In your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar, you learn about the philosophy of "Economy of Words". In China, they're putting it into practice. A Communist Party official in Henan was forced from the podium during his remarks and chastised by a superior with, "All your words are empty. Please stop reading and get off the stage." Ever wanted to say that to someone?

With texts, tweets, IMs, phone calls, electronic media, and all of the other messages bombarding your receiver every day, they have neither the time nor interest to listen to you prattle on. Edit your message to the bare bones, make it efficient in its use of language, and phrase it so that they get your message right away. That way, you'll make an impact BEFORE they ask you to "please stop reading and get off the stage."

Learn how in your own "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar. Call or E-mail today to schedule one for your business or group, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

Watch and learn

Now that the Primary Election campaign is over in many parts of the country, watch and learn from how campaigns change as the General Election approaches. It's a great example, whether you're a fan of politics or not, of tailoring your message to fit your audience.

In the primaries, candidates are only running against others in their same party. So, a candidate needs to convince members of that party that he or she is "more Democrat" or "more Republican" than opponents. But, for the November election, independent voters and voters from the other party need to be won over. The messages, themes, and promises of the Primary campaign give way to newer, more moderate messages and promises.

That's what it takes, not only to get elected, but just to reach your audience in general. And that's what you'll learn how to do in your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar. Think about who your audience is for a given message. Think about their frame of mind, their wants and needs, and the environment in which they'll receive your message. And then, tailor your message to fit those unique circumstances. That's how you break through the clutter of everyday life and actually reach the people you need to reach.

Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

Editing for success

Ken Burns' masterful documentary on the Civil War includes a quote from Edward Everett in its discussion of the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg. This quote was also included in the official "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar workbook years ago in order to encourage you to edit, edit, edit.

To recap the story, Edward Everett was one of the speakers at the dedication of the cemetery in Gettysburg in November 1863. As was the custom at the time, Mr. Everett spoke for about two hours. Then, Abraham Lincoln was introduced to the crowd and he delivered what is known as "The Gettysburg Address". The official photographer of the event took his time readying his equipment as the President began to speak, knowing that he had a couple of hours to get the right natural light and compose his shot. Suddenly the President finished and walked over to sit down. The photographer quickly snapped the only existing photo of the event, a blurry shot of Lincoln, in mid-air, as he's sitting down.

Following the event, Edward Everett wrote to Lincoln and summed up the whole philosophy behind "utilizing Economy of Words", a skill you'll learn in your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar. Everett wrote, "I wish that I had come as close to the central idea of the occasion in my two hours as you did in two minutes." Seven score and seven years later, one of those two Gettysburg speeches is remembered and treasured.

Writing or speaking a lot, or for a long time, does NOT mean you're a great communicator or an effective communicator. It doesn't even mean that you have a lot of important things to say. It just means that you talk a lot. And, in today's fast-paced world, it also means that no one will listen to you or remember what you said. Edward Everett was an orator. Abraham Lincoln delivered a message that meant something.

"Economy of Words" is just one of the philosophies and approaches to communicating effectively that you will learn in your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar. Call or E-mail today to schedule your own seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

Say, what?

As a follow-up to the post from 7/7/10 about the narrow demographic the Athletic Equipment Managers deal with when communicating with their athletes, there are a number of words, terms, and phrases that still seem normal to you nowadays but make no sense at all to younger people. It's not that you're getting old, it's just that they might have a completely different frame of reference than you do.

For instance, try telling a 20-year-old that when he or she keeps repeating something or constantly bringing up a certain subject, he or she sounds "like a broken record". In fact, with today's MP3 players, you might not even be able to use "like a stuck CD" anymore.

Similarly, saying in frustration that "trying to talk to you is like getting a constant busy signal" is meaningless. Their lives have really only seen call-waiting and calls that go straight to voice-mail when someone is not available. A busy signal is not something they've ever had to deal with.

Picturing an actual person in your mind when composing your message can and will help you avoid these and similar pitfalls. Take the time to actually think about that person - what are they thinking, doing, feeling - what are their experiences and background - and take all of those characteristics into consideration as you compose your message.

It's an important point that's stressed in your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar because it is so critical to the success or failure of your message. It's all part of putting the focus of your message on your receiver.

Call or E-mail today to schedule your "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

Audience Demographics

One thing that was fun and unique about the presentation to the Athletic Equipment Managers last month was that when we focused on communicating with their athletes, it was a very narrow "demographic" that we were talking about. "Demographic" here meaning the vital statistics, basically, involved with their audience of athletes. Nearly all Equipment Managers in the room worked in a collegiate environment. So, when they needed to communicate with their athletes, they would be talking to, primarily, 18-22 year-olds.

Most of the time you are not in a situation where the people you need to communicate with are almost all within a few years of each other. For instance, at work your receivers might have a wide age range, as well as a wide range of education, experience, background, and more. This unique situation with the Equipment Managers allowed us to get very specific in terms of the lifestyles, habits, and interests of their target group. It also allowed us to zero in on the "clutter" that affects this age range every day.

If you find yourself communicating with a group defined by such a narrow demographic trait, take advantage of that fact. As you picture an actual person in your mind while composing your message, be as specific as that narrow demographic allows. It's a great way to make your message even more effective because it is designed specifically for people who fall into that demographic.

Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

When in doubt, leave it out

In your "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar, you're reminded that E-mail is not necessarily private. And that your boss can get into your E-mail at work, thanks to the Electronic Communication and Privacy Act.

Now, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the use of employer-supplied computers, cell phones and pagers may be reviewed by employers. If the employer has a policy that clearly tells employees that the use of this equipment can and will be monitored, then the content of E-mails, text messages, pager messages and the like, is open to review.

In your seminar, you hear that the best way to think of E-mail is that it's like the back of a postcard - anyone can read it, and chances are someone, other than the person you sent it to, will. Hence, when in doubt, leave it out when it comes to sensitive material of either a business or personal nature. Especially, when using employer-supplied electronic devices.

Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

Congratulations to the AEMA

The leaders of the Athletic Equipment Managers Association, Mike and Kelly, among others, should be proud of themselves for incorporating some new subjects into their annual convention program.

This year, for the first time, programs on Time Management and Communication (a "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar) were offered along with all of the usual Athletic Equipment Manager programs. The leaders of the AEMA saw that their members needed to develop business and personal skills, in addition to learning the latest on fabrics, equipment, and the like.

It's not easy to convince the members of your group that programs outside of their specific profession will be a benefit to them. For instance, a couple of Equipment Managers were overheard in the hotel lobby, as they looked through the upcoming schedule, saying, "I don't need to develop my professional skills, so let's go have dinner at that one restaurant instead. I hear the food is really good." Obviously, long after that good dinner and even the memory of it are gone, the life skills they could have gained would remain.

The AEMA members who attended the "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar seemed to get a lot out of it. Many, after the presentation, were able to refer back to specific things they had learned and were going to put into practice. None seemed to regret the great breadsticks they could have had at that restaurant, instead.

While it might not be easy, while some may resist your efforts, do the members of your group or business a favor. Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com. They'll thank you later.

What do you think?

Is this some city's (Basehor's) fancy way of saying, "City Limit", or does it have some other legal meaning that most people don't understand?

E-mail only for appropriate subjects

Soon, it will be the anniversary of one of the worst uses of E-mail ever. And that serves as a reminder to you to use E-mail only in situations where it is appropriate.

You learn in your "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar that anger, sarcasm, and other negative emotions need to be gotten out of voice-mails and E-mails. Negative emotions like that are best left to face-to-face communication where you can see the effect you and your message are having on your receiver.

With all of today's methods of electronic communication, it's easy for people to hide when there's a potential for conflict. Things like ending a relationship by texting, breaking up through voice-mail, and the like, though, make you look shallow and callous. It's obvious that you didn't want to deal with the emotions in person, so you hid behind technology.

This was carried to another extreme nearly four years ago now, in August of 2006, when Radio Shack sent this E-mail to 400 employees - "The workforce reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated." Fired, by E-mail.

While it may be easier on you to hide, screen calls, and block E-mails, if you really want to communicate effectively, know when it is appropriate for electronic communication and when face-to-face is really the only option.

Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

E-mail, again

In your "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar, you learn the importance of grabbing the attention of your message's receivers early and capturing their imaginations. Throughout the seminar, you're shown various ways of accomplishing this, including how this philosophy applies to both voice-mail and E-mail.

Hit your main point within the first two sentences when sending an E-mail message, for instance. That way, when your receiver opens your message, there's the important information they need right at the top. They don't have to scroll down down to find it. And every time they refer back to your E-mail, there it is again, right at the top.

Also, include a descriptive "Subject" line in your E-mails. Often you can make your point or answer a question just in the Subject line. As mentioned in the April 22 post on this blog, it takes your receiver an average of four minutes to open, read, respond to, and either delete or store each E-mail they get. If you can communicate your important information in just the Subject line of your message, you may save them those four minutes. Subject lines such as, "Meeting Thursday 10am", "Cookie money due Tuesday" and the like, communicate your message as soon as they see it in their inbox. And, the descriptive Subject line makes your message "break through the clutter" of all of the other E-mails they receive. In the text of your E-mail then you simply need to reinforce and expand upon your information since communication has already happened.

Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

Too much E-mail

In your "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar, you learn that the two keys to effective use of E-mail are brevity and necessity, sending only what is needed when it is needed. There is simply too much E-mail going on.

A study now shows that your receiver spends an average of four minutes to open, read, respond to, and either delete or store each E-mail. That's a very important statistic for you to consider.

When communicating, you need to picture an actual person in your mind as you compose your message, what they're doing, thinking, and feeling. Part of that, when it comes to E-mail, is to realize that if your message ends up being one of forty or fifty that piled up while they were on vacation. At four minutes per E-mail, they might not have time to read something called, "Another Blond Joke".

Plus, if they are used to getting only important E-mails from you, when they get one, they will tend to think that it is important. If, however, they usually get 15-20 E-mails a day from you, and most of those contain the same jokes, cartoons, and video links that others are sending to them, they won't consider your E-mail to be as important.

Brevity and necessity, the keys to effective use of E-mail, when done in conjunction with all of the other things you'll learn in your own "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar. Call or E-mail today to schedule a seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

Spoken Communication tip

In your "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar, you learn some of the benefits and responsibilities associated with spoken communication, as opposed to written communication. Among the tips you get regarding spoken communication, you learn to practice out loud when preparing for an oral presentation.

While practicing out loud, listen to yourself. And, while listening, check your pronunciation of words. The Dictionary of Pronunciation warns "...you will...be judged by the words you mispronounce. And you may not be judged kindly."

Read the following sentence out loud while listening to yourself. "The realtor, wearing jewelry, was comfortable selling the nuclear plant, regardless of the economy." You should have pronounced the italicized as they are spelled. Too often, pronunciations sound more like, "The ree-la-ter, wearing joo-ler-ee, was comf-ter-bull selling the noo-cue-ler plant, ir-regardless of the economy." If any of the second sentence sounds familiar to you as you read it, "you may not be judged kindly."

Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

Word choice

In your "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar, you learn to use only words that will mean something to the receivers of your messages. An exchange at the pharmacy today underscored the importance of that.

When a prescription coupon card was presented along with payment, the clerk worked on the computer for a bit and sarcastically said, "Oh, I love this!", sighed, and stomped over to a fellow employee. After the second employee worked on another computer for a while, he came over to explain that the pharmacy had another drug's coupon listed as the "primary" card and this was listed in the computer as the "secondary" card and that's why it wouldn't go through. But, now it went through and everything was okay. But that's why it didn't at first, because the other one was the primary card and not this one.

Those who don't work at that pharmacy, including their customers, really have no idea what any of that means. Nor, frankly, do they care. Pharmacy employees deal with those computers, that software and drug companies every day, so it made sense to them. But they used these specialized terms when talking to a customer off the street. "Here are your pills and it'll be ten bucks" is all the customer wanted or needed to hear.

To communicate effectively, avoid lingo or jargon, specialized language unique to a certain area of interest or expertise. Within your own circle of co-workers, friends, or others that share your experiences, it's fine. But keep in mind that outside of your inner circle, it's really just gibberish. And whenever you use words, terms or phrases that your receiver, for whatever reason, doesn't understand, instead of being impressed with how much you know, they tend to feel alienated and sometimes even insulted.

Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

Clutter, again

To continue the discussions about "What is 'clutter'?" and how the clutter of today's world gets worse everyday - Mignon McLaughlin summed up the problem like this, "No one really listens to anyone else. Try it for a while, and you'll see why."

Humorous, yes. But it's sad, too, because it's true. So many messages are being sent today, often in a rapid-fire manner, that are centered on the person sending them. And the messages tell about important things like, "I just got a massage", or "I just had my nails done and now I'm going shopping", or "I'm having a latte and a bagel". While they might be harmless and even a bit of a diversion for people during their busy days, the messages are each another bit of "noise" or "clutter" that distract your receiver from more important messages. Like your messages, for example.

That's why it is so important for you to stop, as you compose your message, and to think about the person(s) you need to reach. What are they doing? What will they do just before getting your message? What will they do just after? In what environment will they receive your message? Take all of those things, and more, into consideration as you compose your message. For your message to truly be effective, it isn't about writing or saying what you want to write or say. It's about writing or saying what will mean something to your receiver for communication to happen.

And that's what you'll learn how to do in your "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar. Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

Clutter, again

Obviously, when your seminar is called "Break Through the Clutter", you're going to spend some time learning about what clutter is and how to break through it with your message. So, "clutter" will be discussed here again.

In addition to all of the advertising messages, voice-mails and E-mails, meetings and more that clutter up today's world, people are talking about themselves now more than ever before. With texts, tweets, blogs, and social network pages, people are sending so many messages about their likes, dislikes, hobbies and interests that you have to wonder if anyone is actually receiving those messages. Or, whether it even matters to the "senders" that their messages are heard. The act of sending them seems to be the goal rather than making certain that someone hears them.

An Internet expert described it as people wanting to be the stars of their own reality shows. They get attention. They think people are interested in when they are brushing their teeth, or just had a cup of coffee.

With so many being so interested in talking about themselves, they don't have a lot of time for you and your message, regardless of how important it may be. And that is the environment in which your messages are being heard and read today. That is the "clutter" your message must break through to make an impact.

The key is to make your message different from all of those other messages that are centered on the sender, to focus your message on your receiver. And that's what you learn how to do in your own "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar. It is simple, but it isn't always easy.

Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

Clutter

Part of your "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar includes a definition and description of the "clutter" of everyday life - the interference your message has to deal with, compete with, and break through in order for you to actually be heard. Thanks to text messages, tweets, Facebook postings and more, the level of clutter is higher than ever before. And, it seems to grow every day.

Your message has to be special in order to break through all of this clutter and that's what you learn to do in your "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar - how to make your message special, how to frame it in a new way to make it more effective.

Donnie Deutsch, the advertising and business guru, summed it up like this - "...give people new information or entertain them - or else you're in trouble." It's that simple. You and your message have to fight to be heard today above all of the noise that is a part of everyday life.

Call or E-mail today to schedule your own "Break Through the Clutter" communication seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

Patience is a virtue

After three years of contact back and forth, it's wonderful to get the chance to speak to the Athletic Equipment Managers this summer. This will be a lot of fun for all of us, and we'll be able to address the unique communication challenges they face everyday. Can't wait.

Call or E-mail today to schedule a "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.

A resolution?

Make it New Year's resolution that you will do your best to communicate more effectively in 2010. Improved communication skills will help your career, your home life, and make you more successful in all of the other things you do everyday.

A great way to improve your communication skills, and the skills of those you deal with regularly, is to schedule a "Break Through the Clutter" Communication Seminar for your group or business. Or, pick up a "Break Through the Clutter" seminar CD to listen to and learn from while driving.

It's a brand-new year, filled with many wonderful and exciting opportunities and challenges. And you will be best equipped to meet and beat them all if you become a more effective communicator.

Call or E-mail today, 913-631-2985, bkthrucomm@aol.com.