Most people think that writing errors occur when we set our fingers on the keyboard to write. In reality, by the time we are typing or scrawling, the damage is already done. If we do not think through our message in advance, we are doomed to miss our mark.
Why is this?
Because starting to write is like launching an arrow from its bow. What determines whether the arrow meets its target? True, the wind may blow, but the main factor in hitting the target is aiming correctly. That and applying sufficient pressure make the difference between the bullseye and the miss. We need to aim our communications toward our specific reader or readers, not launch our words wildly into cyberspace or snail mail, hoping they will reach a target that we have not fully defined.
How do we aim our communication successfully? By thinking about it before we release our arrow from the bow. That is, by analyzing the Three P’s: Purpose, person, and point.
The Three P’s: Purpose, Person, Point
Before you write or speak, consider your intended result. As Stephen Covey wrote, “Begin with the end in mind.” What is your intention, your purpose? Are you informing? This is just an FYI or a weather report. Are you requesting? This implies that you have the power to ask and you know what you want. Or are you persuading, as most of us usually are? Persuading means showing the reader the costs and benefits associated with our ideas so that we influence them to believe what we want them to believe.
Next, before you pull back on the bowstring, consider your reader: What is the reader asking herself? What does she need to know? What are her topics of emotional intensity, or hot buttons? Why should she care about your message? When you take a moment to visualize your reader, you will discover a wealth of knowledge that you were not aware you had. You know a lot about your reader – or about someone in your reader’s job role – you just need to apply that knowledge.
Third, what is on your arrowhead? When your message lands at its target, what will happen? What will the reader know? What will she understand? In short, what is your point or essential message?
When we think through our core message and aim it accurately at our readers, we are more likely to hit our goals.
©2019 Elizabeth Danziger All rights reserved