Message Matters
How do you create messages that prompt people to actually do something?
The key is connecting to the desires of people you're trying to motivate. Designing a powerful message is less about finding the right words than speaking to the right desires.
Words are the last thing to focus on when creating a message. Rebecca Leet developed a unique framework for creating messages, called the action connection® framework, which lays out these five steps to designing a message:
- Identify the action you want to make happen.
- Identify who can make that action happen -- your target audiences.
- Identify the desires of those audiences that prompt them to take action.
- Find the mutuality between your desires and your audiences' desires -- can you deliver to their desires and do you want to use your resources that way?
- Write the message.
Underlying the framework are five principles that are key to using the action connection® approach successfully. They are:
- Action drives message. Informing, educating, persuading are not really your goal. You want people to take action.
- Self-interest drives action. People act because they want something. Ignoring this reality will undermine message success.
- Desire trumps need. Peter Brinkerhoff says it best: People have needs, but people seek wants.
- Common desire is the secret of success. You and your audience both must get your needs met to sustain communication and action. If there is no overlap, don't waste your time creating a message.
- Less is more. Keep your messages short. Limit your number of audiences. Limit the number of key points you make. If you do all three, you and your colleagues are much more likely to remember the message and use it.
Visit the Message Matters website >