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Crafting Your Message: Being a Good Spokesperson
Janine MacLachlan, director, ADA Council on Communications
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Today: An Overview• How people receive messages
• How to create powerful messages
• Practice = courage + confidence
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How Audiences Perceive Messages
7%38%
55%
Content: Message
Verbal: Tone, Rate of Speech
Non Verbal: Body Language
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People Retain Three Messages If you talk about everything, you are remembered for nothing
Always begin with your own goals
Add photo or graphic depicting this somehow
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Proper Prep: Do Your Research• Know the nature of the interview or
discussion• Obtain questions in advance where
possible• Determine your agenda
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Three Ps of Message Development• Prepare – Know your goals for the interview– Conduct research– Develop 3 key messages
• Practice – Messages and body language
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Three Ps of Message Development• Perform – Engage your audience– Use visuals and props
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How to Create Key Messages• Mind map– Fill a page with everything you might want to cover
• Prioritize– What will resonate? – How to make it emotional?
• Identify 3 key messages– Support each key message with 2-3 points
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KISS – Keep It Super Simple Headline• One engaging sentence
Prove it • Facts, data
Visualize it• Stories
Bottom line it• Rephrase the headline
Headline
Prove
Visualize
Bottom Line
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Mind map exercise
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ABCs of Q & AA: Answer the
questionB: Bridge to your
messageC: Conclude on
positive notethat drives youragenda
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Bridging to Your Message• In fact…• Let me put this
in perspective…• What you need
to remember is…
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A few don’ts• Don’t speculate: – Don’t answer hypothetical questions– Don’t comment on investigations or court cases
• Don’t make up answers– “I don’t know. But what I do know is…”– “Let me get back to you with that information.”
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A few don’ts• Don’t feel compelled to fill the
silence• Don’t offer opinion that differs from
your organization’s position• Better ways to say “No comment”
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Your turn• Break into teams• Review your burning topic• Create three key messages– Plus two supporting points for each
• Tell your story