December 2006

Match Your Message to the Medium

By carefully navigating the communication waters, you can avoid miscues in the business world.

By Julie Jares

It happens frequently in the business world and during social interactions: People mismatch their message and their medium. Last summer, for example, I received a text message from a good friend that said, "My dad has cancer." My immediate reaction was sympathy and I picked up the phone to talk to her about it. After we spoke, however, it occurred to me that a text message about a life-threatening disease was a bit odd.

These miscues happen in the business world, too. We have a long list of communication methods these days—phone calls, conference calls, email, instant messages, and text messages, to name a few—and navigating the communication waters can get confusing. So review the tips below to make sure you don't fall into this mismatching trap.

• Ready, set, action! (Or not). Think about what you want your audience to do when they receive your message—what action (mental or physical) do you want them to take? Do you want them to take a particular action? If so, don't ask open-ended questions.
• Go with the strength. Consider the strengths and limitations of the medium and select the one most appropriate for your message and your audience. For example, most text message formats only allow 160 characters—not enough room for nuanced messaging or emotional communiqués. Or, Flash animations—they're called Flash for a reason—function best when communicating high-level benefits, not detailed documentation. Conversely, email gives you room to communicate detailed information, reams of evidential backup, and so on.
"Think about what you want your audience to do
when they receive your message—what action
do you want them to take?"

• Time it right. Timing can help or hurt your message. Don't send out weekend-planning email on Friday afternoon and don't send an email newsletter on Fridays or busy Mondays. Do soft launch websites over the weekend or at other times when traffic is likely to be slower so that you can test in real time without alienating your core audience.
• Switch the medium if necessary. Are you having an endless back and forth over email without concrete results? Did your friendly email sound snarky? Pick up the phone. You might reach a resolution more quickly.
• Avoid written communication for delicate issues. An email can be forwarded quickly, easily, and widely, but a conversation is far more private. If you do opt for an email, consider the possibility that your recipient isn't the only person who will read it. Conversely, when you want or need a written record of your exchange, opt for email over phone or IM.
• The audience is listening, or are they? (A little bit of a tangent, but important.) Match your audience with your communication method. If your audience doesn't read email, don't send them information via an email newsletter.

The last point here may seem obvious, but the points above are based on the underlying assumption that your communications are clear. What's the point of carefully matching your medium to your message when the recipient can't decipher your shorthand email style or understand a rambling voicemail? Repeat your name and number when leaving a voicemail, spell-check those email messages, and keep the lines of communication free and clear.




About the author:

Managing editor Julie Jares is receptive to feedback over any medium. Email her or pick up the phone!