The Best Way to Start Every Communications Project

Write your headline. That’s it.  Come up with up to 12 words that summarize the point you're trying to make.  No matter what the project, if it’s centered on communicating something to someone, condense it all into a headline.

If that’s a bit too restrictive then perhaps think in terms of tweets.  Write your concept in up to 140 characters or less.  But certainly no more.  See if you can boil the whole message down to that.

Why?

Because no matter how long your annual report, how big the audience at that next speech, or how breakthrough the news will be in your next press release, chances are your targeted audience will come away with a single and simple concept of what you communicated.

If it’s an annual report, the reader will want to know quite simply, “Was it a good year or not?”

If it’s a speech, “What one thing do you want me to remember when I leave here today?”

If it’s a news release, “Why is this important and why now?”

Even in crisis situations, it’s worth the time and the effort to think in terms of the headlines that will come out of the situation. Think worst-case scenario first. What’s the worst headline that can appear here?   And then think in terms of the best possible headline, and work towards that.

So, as you start to scope out your next communications project, one of the most valuable exercises you can do is to develop the right headline to guide your vision and your work.