[4 minutes to read]
There is one thing you can do to super-charge your productivity in the coming year. It’s not new. It’s not sexy. But it works. What you can do is to clarify the Three P’s: purpose, person, and point. Before you communicate, consider these questions:
What is my purpose?
Are you informing, requesting, or persuading?
- Informing is a weather report, an FYI. It requires no response or action. Avoid giving too much information (TMI).
- Requesting requires a response. Ask for it. Say what you want/need and by when the action should take place.
- Persuading is… persuasive. Show the reader the costs of ignoring you and the benefits of doing as you say.
Clarifying the first P, Purpose, sets your intentions and aims you toward your goal.
What person am I trying to reach?
Nothing happens until your reader understands you. Before you write, visualize your reader.
- What are that person’s hot buttons? What emotional topics make her heart go pitter-pat? Security? Reliability? Reputation? Avoiding bad press? Do a little armchair psychoanalysis.
- What questions is that person asking him or herself? Everyone is asking himself questions when he receives a document. Anticipate the reader’s questions and answer them. If you are suggesting a purchase, tell the reader why it is necessary, what it will cost, and what the ROI will be.
Analyzing your reader raises the likelihood that your message will hit home.
What is my point?
In most cases, make your point within the first 50 words of the document. If you are persuading or delivering bad news, the point may wait until the middle or the end, but in most cases, your readers will be eager for you to get on with your message.
To determine your point, first ask yourself: What is the issue? Then revisit your purpose.
- If your purpose is to inform, what does your reader need to know about the issue?
- If your purpose is to request, what does the reader need to do about it?
- If your purpose is to persuade, what does your reader need to believe about it?
Then state your point in one sentence. Clarifying your point before you start ensures that you actually make the point you need to make and that your reader will walk away from the document feeling that your message has been delivered.
The Three P’s Tool is Powerful
I have been teaching business writing for three decades, and the Three P’s is by far the most life-changing tool I teach. Sure, you lose brownie points by using the semicolon incorrectly, but you lose your whole message if you don’t think about purpose, person, and point.
That is why we discuss the Three P’s comprehensively in every Worktalk training, using examples from our clients’ work to illustrate how to apply them.
So as you launch the new year, take a moment before you write that next email or report. Ask yourself about purpose, person, and point. Your results will amaze you.
And that was my point.
©2019 Elizabeth Danziger All rights reserved