As a new leader, everything communicates. And we're all new leaders all the time. The core of your communication must be your message. But how do you get to the right message?
The answer lies in the three components of emotional positioning: benefit, support, character. Any of you that were trained by anyone that's ever worked in marketing at Procter & Gamble will recognize those words as the components of advertising copy strategy. When applied to personal communication, they have different meanings:
Benefit
How you want your audience to feel. In the end, all benefits are emotional. When it comes to personal communication it's all about the feeling.
Support
Personal connection. Certainly logic may help, but use it only to help make the personal connection. Without personal connection, there is no transfer of emotion.
Character
Your message must be rooted in your character. Be. Do. Say. They won't believe what you say unless it matches what you do. And if what you say and do don't match who you fundamentally are, you won't be able to keep up the pretense for long.
Follow this link to read about Three Steps to a Compelling Message.
(Image from Wikipedia)
