Having coached 300+ CEOs to craft clear, memorable messages, and publishing a bestseller called “Message Machine”, I return to these 7 cheat codes again and again:
1/ 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐁𝐐 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭
↳ Can you explain it to someone at a BBQ – and keep their attention?
↳ No jargon. No slides. Just say what you mean.
2/ 𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 “𝐒𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭?” 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
↳ People don’t care unless you make them care.
↳ “This matters now because…”
3/ 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 1 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚
↳ Don’t create Frankenideas.
↳ What is the One Thing you want to get across?
4/ 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭
↳ Craft one explosive sentence to capture your big idea.
↳ Simply expressed, yet packed with meaning. (h/t Will Storr)
5/ 𝐑𝐮𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫
↳ Use this 5-part clarity filter.
↳ A clear message is: beneficial, focused, salient, empathetic, minimal (h/t Ben Guttmann).
6/ 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬
↳ Listen to your audience.
↳ Then tell your audience the story they would tell themselves about your topic.
7/ 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 → 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 → 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞
↳ What looks good on paper can sound clunky and stilted.
↳ Speak it out loud. Refine until it flows effortlessly.
🧭 Clear messaging isn’t about dumbing it down. It’s about getting an idea from your head into your audience’s.
❓ How do you ensure your message is clear?
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Know too much about your topic?
7 cheat codes for complex ideas:
Most professionals know too much about their topic.
But clarity isn’t about saying more.
It’s about saying the right thing — in the right way.