Eight steps to great Communication. (A review)
No matter if your audience of one or thousands, or whether your communication is spoken or written, use these principles so that your message is received and remembered. 

1. Know your audience.
2. Balance what you want to say with what they want to hear.
3. Use simple language.
4. Strategically decide whether to write or speak your message.
5. Share personal anecdotes and illustrations.
6. Start strong and end with emotion.
7. Preview, present and recap your message.
8. Use word pictures or other visuals to make it memorable.

Doing so will help achieve your desired result: message received and understood. 

"The greatest problem with communication is we don’t listen to understand. We listen to reply."  Roy T. Bennett

The Power of Word Pictures

Make Communication Memorable.  
One of the best ways to help people remember your message is through using a word picture.  Winston Churchill did this when he described a communist world that lay behind an “iron curtain.” Hillary Clinton speculated about a “vast, right-wing conspiracy.”  President George W. Bush spoke of an “axis of evil.”   Word pictures are effective because they grab and direct attention and lock thoughts into our memory.  A call to action can be greatly enhanced by the creative use of a word picture.

Other visual devices are also effective in helping us communicate.  An often repeated statistic states that: people remember 40% of what they hear and see, 30% of what they see, 20% of what they hear, and only 10% of what they read. Always reinforce your spoken or written message with something that evokes a mental memory, either through a word picture or a visual image.

"Take advantage of every opportunity to practice your communication skills so that when important occasions arise, you will have the gift, the style, the sharpness, the clarity, and the emotions to affect other people." Jim Rohn

How to be a Great Communicator

Tell them, Tell them, Tell them.

A savvy public speaker once shared his formula for effective communication with me.  He said, “Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them you told them.”  In other words: 

• Preview the message: 

Summarize what you have to say and why it is important.

• Present the message: 

Give the body or details of your message.

• Recap the message: 

Briefly repeat your message and restate its importance.

Repetition is critical to effective communication because, even though we have two ears, we still miss a lot.

"The art of communication is the language of leadership."  James Humes

Jump in With Both Feet

Begin Strongly and End with Emotion. 
Jump in with both feet with your first words.  It’s o.k. to appear totally sold-out to your message. Enthusiasm demands attention. Don’t worry if you appear a little fanatical.  Remember, a fanatic is only someone who believes in something a little more strongly than you do.  The reason people respond to such passion is because much of life is so predictable and mundane. Make them feel alive!  Oh, they may think you’re a little nuts -- but that never stopped me.

As you close your talk or write the last paragraph speak from your heart.  Tell them why this is so important to you.  Tell them why this is the right action and why you are committed to it no matter what it takes.  Let them know how you feel, why it is worth taking the risk and how things will be better.  Your passion and emotion will motivate your audience to action.  

Be a great communicator and affect people like Anne Marrow Lindbergh says, "Good communication is just as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after."