Communication Planning
High-stakes messages deserve a short design pass: audience, intent, channel, and timing. Clarity beats cleverness when stakes or emotions run high.
When to Use
- Important email, talk, or thread where misunderstanding would be costly.
- You need alignment, a decision, or behavior change—not just information dump.
Workflow
- Audience analysis: who receives this, what they already know, what they care about, what resistance they may have.
- Outcome: one sentence on what you want them to think, feel, or do after reading or listening.
- Message architecture: one key takeaway, up to three supporting points, one explicit call to action.
- Channel selection: email for record and async detail; chat for speed; call for nuance and tone; meeting when misalignment must be surfaced live.
- Timing: when will they have attention? what else competes on their calendar or inbox?
- Pre-flight: read it aloud or from their seat—jargon, missing context, and tone land differently.
Examples
Example 1: Exec update—lead with the decision needed, three bullets of evidence, link to detail, send Tuesday morning not Friday 5pm.
Example 2: Difficult peer feedback—book a short call, open with shared goal, one behavior + example + request, follow with a brief written summary.
1---2name: communication-planning3description: Communication Planning4---5# Communication Planning67High-stakes messages deserve a short design pass: audience, intent, channel, and timing. Clarity beats cleverness when stakes or emotions run high.89## When to Use10- Important email, talk, or thread where misunderstanding would be costly.11- You need alignment, a decision, or behavior change—not just information dump.1213## Workflow141. **Audience analysis**: who receives this, what they already know, what they care about, what resistance they may have.152. **Outcome**: one sentence on what you want them to think, feel, or do after reading or listening.163. **Message architecture**: one key takeaway, up to three supporting points, one explicit call to action.174. **Channel selection**: email for record and async detail; chat for speed; call for nuance and tone; meeting when misalignment must be surfaced live.185. **Timing**: when will they have attention? what else competes on their calendar or inbox?196. **Pre-flight**: read it aloud or from their seat—jargon, missing context, and tone land differently.2021## Examples22**Example 1:** Exec update—lead with the decision needed, three bullets of evidence, link to detail, send Tuesday morning not Friday 5pm.2324**Example 2:** Difficult peer feedback—book a short call, open with shared goal, one behavior + example + request, follow with a brief written summary.
sethdford