The four building blocks: Message

- What gets transmitted between a sender and a receiver is the message. Brenda gave you two great examples of a message tailored to two different audiences, but the message in a conversation is not just the words we speak or write. Non-verbal cues and the tone of our voice also contribute and should help clarify a message. It only takes a few seconds for your most carefully composed presentation to fail if your intro lacks energy and enthusiasm. For example, "Thank you for being here today." One additional part of the delivery of your message to the sender is the channel you choose to send it in. The channel could be a text, a memo, or an email, a voice message or a phone call, a water cooler chat, or even a face-to-face meeting. For instance, if you need to capture your boss's attention, you may start out with a short text to determine if a longer conversation over the phone would be appropriate. But be careful. Don't default to email too often. I was shocked by the results of a study by the Radicati Group predicting that in 2023 the total number of business and consumer emails sent and received per day exceeded, wait for this, 347 billion per day. Think about that the next time you send an email. Would a voice memo, text, or even a written note be a more effective communication channel? Whatever channel you choose, you also need to consider your message's organizational pattern. Is your message meant to inform or to persuade? In either case, design your message in a simple, concise way that's tailored to your receiver. If your message is designed to persuade, craft a case that includes your primary claims supported with evidence and justification for your idea. Later in this course, we share a scenario about pitching a new idea together with using a toolkit to enhance your skills. Now, beyond the nature of your organizational pattern, your message will be more effective when you bundle primary and secondary information. Let me give you an example. If I'm announcing a promotion that our company plans to begin in the coming month, I should tell our staff why we're making the decision and what we receive in the return. It all adds depth to your context of the message. Finally, effective communication involves a cyclical flow of information between the sender and the receiver. This requires time for the receiver to process the information, ask questions to gain clarification, and confirm their understanding. Without this feedback, you not only compromise the clarity of your message, but worse, you give the impression the receiver's involvement is irrelevant. Be mindful about how you strategize, deliver, and evaluate your messages, and you will become an effective communicator in every interaction.