Communication Lessons
| DO | DON'T |
|---|---|
Fill a need. |
Influence people. |
PR and advertising usually tries to influence us. We are only open to ideas that respond to our real needs. Successful organizations tap into those wants instead of trying to force people into new ones. The cardinal rule should really be to put yourself in their shoes.
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Enable people. |
Sell something. |
| Few people describe themselves as "customers." They define themselves by what they want to do (go for a hike, listen to music, get somewhere...). Calling them a customer makes them an object of your business, not a person with an aspiration. | |
Tell a story. |
Give a presentation. |
| Too many presentations are a waste of time. To grab your audience, tell them a story that has suspense and some kind of resolution. If the subject is a tangible thing, show it and show what it can do. | |
Be authentic. |
Sound corporate. |
| Could an actual person be saying this? Would you believe them? Corporate speak is to business messages what cliché is to other types of writing, i.e., overused and off-putting. | |
Get results. |
Sell products. |
| Few people are actually interested in cars, printers or hair dryers. They want to go somewhere, get printed documents or have dry hair. Remember that there may be other (and better) ways to get the same result. A corollary of this is that many consumers are ready to sacrifice "quality" for "convenience." | |
Last updated
February 14, 2013