Communications: Get the Most to Your Audience

I wrote about the two style of executive communication which I have encountered, the staccato and the flowery. Ok I can't resist, the haiku and the Michner novel.

Let's expand that concept to the diverse universe of people and groups with whom you will communicate.

But first, don't ever forget that sincerity, honesty and respect are constants, no matter with whom you are talking/writing.

There are infinitely too many variables to describe each one, so let's use a very generic example of explaining a new policy to the Finance Department people and the Sales people.

With the Finance folks, present data and expected results from the policy such as cost savings, perhaps also the business reasoning for the new policy.

Lace the Sales meeting with humor and use a relaxed manner. Explain how the policy will/should help them sell and earn more commission money.

This example addresses primarily content but also style. You know your people, whether a very direct approach or more conversational is better, or humor works, if numbers and stats help... You get the idea. Always consider your audience - and - remember that each audience (even if it is one person) is unique.

L