Turning Up The Volume On Your Communication Strategy Only Makes You Harder To Understand

Here’s What To Do Instead

If you’ve ever been kept awake at night because of an unwarranted party next door, then you’ll know what I mean. The muffled boom everytime the bass drum hits can be as debilitating as it is deafening. With no definition or dynamics, its just a nauseating, neverending stream of hypnotic noise that is neither entertaining nor escapable — void of any clarity whatsoever.

In those early hours of the morning I often wonder what would bring my stress levels down the quickest, to call the cops and shut them down, or to actually walk across the street, knock on the door, and join the party where I would at least be able to really hear the music.

We need clarity, Jerry, clarity!

When we’re not seeing the results we’d like on our monthly hits, likes, downloads and page views, we immediately assume its because were not communicating enough. However, merely turning up the volume on any communication strategy is probably the best thing you can do to fully drown out your own message.

When we’re not illiciting the desired responses with our strategies, it might not be enough to communicate louder, if were not also doing the hard work of communicating clearer.

Let’s be honest, it is part of the human condition to first find fault outside of ourselves, and appropriately shift the blame. The same holds true in a corporate context. If our messages aren’t tracking with our market, it is easiest to conclude that our audience aren’t listening carefully, when in fact it might be us that are not communicating clearly. When we’re ultimately convinced our audience aren’t listening, we intuitively turn up the volume on our message. If we can bring ourselves to realise that its us that are hard to listen to, we can start to put the right principles in place to transform our communication into a clear and audible message — even in the noisiest of environments.

First, stop doing these things.

The next time you’re in a communication meeting, looking at numbers with little red downward-pointing arrows next to them, watch our for these three immediate knee-jerk reactions:

1. We should communicate more frequently. Increasing the amount of Facebook posts, email newsletter campaigns or direct calls, will summarily put you into the same category as the most hated communicators in the world: spammers.
2. We should make our messages longer. There’s a specific term reserved for why I didn’t read your [now even longer] message that was neither relevant nor useful to begin with: TL;DR. Look it up, its a thing.
3. We should adopt a more urgent tone. Constantly communicating more aggresively just reminds me of my highschool girlfriend who wouldn’t let go. It makes you and your organisation seem desperate, needy, and worst of all, cheap.

All three these approaches amount to speaking louder at the cost of speaking more clearly. Instead of turning up the volume and potentially deafening your audience in the process, pause, breathe, and calmly do these three things instead.

Now, start doing these things instead.

Making our message clearer instead of louder, has everything to do with mastering the art of communicating the right thing, to the right person, at the right time.

1. Make sure you’re talking to the right people. Cliched as it might sound, do the research on your target market. Figure out and truly understand their pains, gains, and all the ways in which you can help them succeed.
2. Make sure you’re sending the right message. Crafting exactly the right words to communicate empathy, authority and a clear plan to your audience, will go a long way towards a successful communication strategy. In fact, it is probably the most important thing here.
3. Make sure your timing is perfect. Only speak when people are ready to listen. Keep things like time zones, working hours, weekends, seasons, and the news of the day in mind. There’s nothing more off putting than an inappropriate message at the worst possible time.

Taking the time to clear up your message and your strategy, will almost always eradicate the need to turn up the volume. A masterfully crafted message, communicated to the exact audience at the most opportune time, be it a whisper, will be heard. Once you’ve succeeded in doing that repeatedly, then [and only then] start thinking about turning up the volume.

Finally, now you’re effectively communicating a message that is as loud as it is clear, leading not only to brand awareness and product/service comprehension, but actual responses to your call to action.

In other [more clear] words, if you do this, you’ll not only win friends and influence people, you’ll actually sell your stuff.

PS. We’re here to help leaders design powerful messages that grow their businesses. If you need help clarifying your message and maximising your communication strategy, don’t hesitate to make contact at www.kraftdesignsmiths.com.