4 keys to ensure your messaging resonates and sticks

Envision the last time you presented new information to a group of employees in an extended session of one to three hours.

Were you:

As a communicator, you probably asked your audience several times during the presentation: “Do you understand?”

How do people generally respond? They nod, smile, say yes. Even if they don’t understand, they assume that they’ll figure it out later.

Some will. Some won’t.

Here are four ways to make sure that others really do understand what you’re communicating.

1. Don’t shy away from repetition.

If we learn anything from TV commercials, it’s that frequency pays. Some sponsors use the very same ad three to six times within a couple of hours. And on occasion, the commercial plays twice during the same network break — back to back!

Why?

The human brain filters out “noise.” Sometimes we have to hear a message six, seven, even eight times before it sticks. And consider this: Individual listeners are not always accepting “incoming” at the exact same time that you’re delivering “outgoing.” So don’t get frustrated with your group when you’ve “said it already.” Expect and plan to say it again. And again. And again.