Planning Business Messages
« Previous EntriesHow I Use Mindmapping to Write
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010I use lots of tools for writing. The other day, I talked about the importance of writing practice. Today, as I’m working on a new speech, I wanted to share another tool I use: mind mapping.
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Knowing Your Audience–Two More Common Myths about Audience Analysis
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010The most common myth about knowing your audience is that your audience is just like you. But there are other pitfalls to avoid when trying to adapt your message to your audience.
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Knowing Your Audience–The Most Common Myth about Audience Analysis
Monday, December 7th, 2009You’ve got something important to say, and you want to say it well. But your audience is just as important as your subject. Do you really know your audience?
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The Power of Mind Mapping
Monday, November 9th, 2009Mind mapping, a form of visual outlining, may seem superficial, but once mastered it provides a powerful tool for managing information overload and the hyperbolic multitasking of the modern world. Recent advances in shareable mind maps take the power of this technique further, enabling groups to quickly capture and organize a massive amount of ideas. [...]
Keeping the Audience in Mind
Friday, February 27th, 2009When creating a message—whether written, verbal, or electronic—you as the messenger should keep your receiver in mind when choosing your words.
Questions of who and how many are as important as the message itself when it comes to effective communication. Knowing the receiver and keeping in mind whether it is an individual or a group are [...]
Mind Map Your Business Writing
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008Stuck writing that presentation or report? Maybe you’re procrastinating and feeling guilty about it. Here’s a tip: use a mind map. Mind maps use both your left brain logical side and your right brain creative side. As you doodle your map, you’ll get new ideas and will make new connections. Before you know it . [...]
Mind Mapping: Brain on Paper
Tuesday, June 24th, 2008I love to use mind-mapping. It’s fun, easy, and a wonderful way to add a bit of creativity to everything we do.
Earlier this year, I interviewed a woman named Jamie Nast, author of Idea Mapping, for my weekly television program, Michigan Entrepreneur. She’s been teaching mind-mapping to corporations and individuals for years, [...]
Starting Off on the Wrong Foot
Thursday, May 8th, 2008In a recent business writing class, a participant said she wanted to learn to do this better in her writing:
"To succinctly communicate historical information or the why behind an e-mail, and transition into the purpose or request I am making."
I could not help her reach her learning goal. No, that’s not true–I would not [...]
The Unintended Message
Monday, August 21st, 2006Sensitive announcements to employees are intended to deliver specific messages—but too often, those messages convey meanings the sender never intended.
Consider, for example, a typical corporate outsourcing announcement. The message reports the business rationale for hundreds of jobs being shipped out to a service providers, enumerates the changes in head count, presents the dates on which [...]
Unintended Messages That Can Alienate, Discourage, and Anger Employees
Monday, August 7th, 2006Sensitive announcements to employees are intended to deliver specific messages—but too often, those messages convey meanings the sender never intended.
Consider, for example, a typical corporate outsourcing announcement. The message reports the business rationale for hundreds of job being shipped out to a service provider, enumerates the changes in head count, gives the dates on which [...]
