I love the idea of a message in a bottle. It has an air of mystery to it. Who is the sender? What was the story of their life? Who was the message meant for? A few years ago when I was running an internal workshop on how to conduct a messaging workshop, I called it ‘message in a bottle’ and created customised messages for each participant which I gave to them in a bottle. That is the first secret to good messaging. It needs to be unique and personalized.
This memory came bobbing to the surface last week as I was preparing to conduct an all-new workshop on building your personal brand. As I get deeper and deeper into the pre-work, I realised how much I was learning. About a new industry and how it works. About people and what motivates them. And as a bonus, I get to work with a colleague I have not worked with before. So, at multiple levels, my learning is the reward I get for curating this workshop.
The power of clarity shines through. Who am I? What is my life purpose? What are my values and strengths? Answering these questions is at the core of refining a message architecture. One that is consistent and authentic has to be rooted in the DNA of the person. Then the strands of a story build on top of that. They ladder easily to fit in with the overall brand narrative. This process is so simple and yet so difficult.
Who is my audience? What do they want from me? Is the next mirror to hold up? With this reflection words change. I remind myself that the secret to a good messaging workshop is to tune into my favourite radio channel WII FM. Ask the question What’s In It For Me? (Me being the intended audience). Wear the audience hat and then see if the messaging works. A few more iterations and the pieces of a puzzle come together. The jigsaw is complete and that is the joy of putting together a messaging workshop. It’s just the start of many stories waiting to be told.
What are you waiting for? Find your uniqueness and touch the world. Get you story out there.
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A trusted coaching and communications professional, Nikhil Dey is a certified life and leadership coach (International Coach Federation - ICF). Nurturing talent and helping clients achieve their goals is what makes him happy. He loves learning from students of communication, teaching courses and guest lecturing at various educational institutions. When he is not working you will find him on the tennis court or out for long walks with his family and four legged friends.
Previously he has held senior leadership positions at Weber Shandwick and Genesis BCW.
He can be reached on twitter @deydreaming
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