How can you successfully communicate your strategy?
Video, text, images, in person presentations…the appeal of these formats depends to a great
extent on the recipient’s personal preferences, or persona. Think of it
this way:
- Some people prefer speed
- Some people prefer to move slowly
- Some people prefer to base their decisions on logic
- Some people prefer to base their decisions more on emotions or feelings
Put it all together, and you come up with four distinct personas.
The population is more or less evenly distributed between these
personas:
1. Fast Paced/Logical
2. Fast Paced/Emotional
3. Slower Paced/Logical
4. Slower Paced/Emotional
So, an
emotionally worded long communications piece would appeal to persona #4
above, but would probably frustrate the other personas, regardless of
whether you use text, images, in person presentations or videos. So here’s a way to approach these
personas:
Persona #1: Provide the facts and a logical argument QUICKLY
Persona #2: Provide an emotionally laden argument QUICKLY
Persona #3: Provide the facts and a logical argument, building up your case SLOWLY
Persona #4: Provide an emotionally laden argument, building up your case SLOWLY
Each of these approaches can be deployed using text, images, in person presentations or
video, though in the case of images, videos and in person presentations they are likely better
mediums than plain text for supporting the
emotional approaches.
You can discover which personas are predominant in your team or organization by using self-assessments such as the type found here.
Hope this helps!
About Brian Ward
Brian Ward is a Principal in Affinity Consulting, a consulting and training practice based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He is the author of Lead People...Manage Things. He works with all levels of leaders and teams as a leadership coach, facilitator, trainer and consultant.
Website: www.affinitymc.com
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