Connecting your Message with your Audience

When you develop a communications plan, the goal is to get your message across to your intended audience. To connect your message with your audience, there are six common techniques you can use to accomplish your goal.

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Statistics
One of the most persuasive tools in any communication plan is the use of numbers. However, make sure your numbers are solidly researched. Research them, double-check them, and then check them again. Statistics can be moving targets and you do not want to find yourself in a position of delivering a message that contains outdated or inaccurate statistics. One outdated or incorrect fact can cause the audience to question the remainder of your message.

Example
Convey to your audience specific examples. Examples allow you to illustrate to–and connect with–the audience the way in which something functions in the real world. Do not just tell your audience something; provide them with an example that demonstrates how your proposal provides specific benefits.

Demonstration
Demonstrations can also be quite persuasive regarding any issue related to technology or science. Taking your audience through a piece of software or a website is much more effective than simply trying to convey that experience through the use of words.

Analogy
Analogies can be extremely powerful. Analogies provide an easy way for the audience to connect to your message–they also provide interest and appeal to your presentation.

Testimonials
Bringing out a real individual who can tell a real story is much more persuasive than trying to use an expert or politician to get your message across to the audience. It is one thing to tell your audience something and something entirely different to hear the same thing from a real person that inspires compassion in the audience.

Experience
Another effective technique is to draw upon the memories of the audience and their own life experiences in order to persuade them of your position. Personal memories and experiences are powerful and compelling.

Reference: Media Relations Handbook, by Brad Fitch, Section 3.10 How to Connect your Message with your Audience.