10 Questions Leaders ask most about Message

Organizations often wonder why it seems that while they feel they have something important to say, no one is listening. This frustration often motivates an organization to develop a message that can be heard above the noise with which they are competing.

But a word of caution: moving into a message quickly, while tempting, is not the ideal action. Thoughtfully assess your organization’s specific message to determine what the desired outcome to be: do you want to cause quick action? Raise visibility or clarify the identity of the organization? Explain a difficult issue?

Once the specific purpose of your message is determined, the following 10 questions can help you assess your message needs. The accumulation of yes and no answers is less important than the discussion these questions elicit. Be truthful and honest, and look at your organization with an objective eye, even if it proves to be uncomfortable.

The questions are:

1. Are we satisfied with how well people listen to us when we talk about our organization or program?

2. Does everyone is our organization explain the overarching goal of the organization or program in the same way?

3. Do we know who our target audiences are?

4. Does everyone in the organization agree on the goal of the program or project we wish to communicate about?

5. Can the group articulate the action we wish to have happen as a result of talking to stakeholders?

6. When someone asks us to describe the purpose or the essence of the organization or program, can we do so effectively in less than thirty seconds?

7. When we describe what we do or what our goal is, do people look at us blankly or with confusion when we are done?

8. Can we talk about our program or project using only language that our next door neighbor would understand?

9. Do we know what audiences we need to reach to achieve the action we want?

10. Do we know the desires of our audiences and what desires of theirs will be met if they take the action we want?

Like this article? Read about identifying roadblocks in the development process.