Isn’t Messaging Just a Talk Track?
Messaging has long been a passion of mine, having heard many a poorly crafted message as a journalist and drafted many, hopefully better, messages in my corporate and agency life.
It can not be overstated: messaging is fundamental. Say it with me this time: messaging is fundamental. If you don’t get it right, everything that flows from it (and everything should!) will be a waste of time, money and energy. It’s also not something you whip up in a few hours and move on. It’s iterative, benefits from different inputs and ultimately requires a simplicity obtained through rigorous refinement.
I’ve often heard colleagues say, “well, the people I meet with understand the details, so we don’t need messaging.” They’re still humans right? At least for now. And humans universally require a brain-gut connection to get them interested in anything, especially when it requires them to spend money. There’s always time to get into the details. However, you can’t get back the initial opportunity to grab someone’s attention.
Often people struggle to understand the difference between developing a talk track for a presentation or event versus messaging, and that includes some very high-priced public relations agencies. Here’s the difference: talk tracks should include messaging, but messaging comes first. Done right, it should make its way into all aspects of your marketing and communications work – ads, employee communications, social media, training videos, press releases, sales presentations, etc. Because the only other thing as fundamental as messaging is consistency. Saying it over and over is the only way messaging penetrates the chaos that is most people’s days. And if it’s good messaging that resonates, it will be remembered, repeated and elicit a response.
My journalism career provided a unique insight into messaging. Journalists are always listening for the quote, the breakthrough idea or comment that makes their story pop. Well, that’s a great start when approaching messaging – what are you saying that’s worth remembering, repeating and responding to? If your honest answer here is nothing, then you have work to do. Here’s some tips to help.
The best messaging rolls up to a big idea or, as I like to call it, the so what. By having a central idea to frame your messaging, you will ensure clarity, focus and impact.
Your messaging needs to have context and meaning. How does it connect to what’s happening in the world? With so much coming at us each day, we are hardwired to filter out information we don’t need right now. The same will happen to your message if it’s not relevant.
Make it simple - concise and easily understood. Here’s a rule: if you have more than one comma in your message, it’s likely too long and complicated. For messages to be memorable and repeatable, they need to be short. Ideally three messages of one or two sentences each is ideal.
Back it up with third-party, verifiable facts or anecdotes that increase credibility and give the intended audience a reason to listen.
Now about that talk track – it’s a script. And the best scripts have clear objectives and include the relevant messages, as well as compelling stories, provocative questions and visual content that engages a specific audience. And it gets so much easier to write that script after the fundamental work of messaging is complete.