President Barack Obama stated late last month, “the biggest mistake … is this notion that you have to dumb things down for the public.” We couldn’t agree more, especially when the issue at hand is complex as most “crisis” communications tends to be. So, to be clear, we need to not lose the nuances of complexities but to make them more easily understandable to all audiences when critical communication is at stake.In order to reach our communications goal here several points need to be addressed, including: concise messaging, perception of intelligence and use of jargon.
Since we are quoting famous people in this blog, another reference is illustrative regarding concise messaging. News icon Walter Cronkite said that there is no story that can’t be told in thirty seconds. Of course, most stories can be told better if there is more time to tell them but Cronkite had the right idea. Start your communications with a simple image-inducing message. For example, effective crisis communication is like driving by a good roadside ad; if you understand the message in a few seconds the ad was successful. If you need to think too long about what the ad was trying to communicate, the message was lost and it’s an ineffective ad.
Great communicators must leave their egos at the door. No one wants to hear what you have to say if you relate to them with a condescending tone. Don’t confuse the use of jargon or inflated words for intelligence. All audiences will benefit from clear communication from empathetic messengers who respect their audiences. Audiences will respect them in return and want to hear and learn about what the messenger is communicating.
What do you think?
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