Communication Strategy

Chapter Two: Communication and Strategy

J.S. O’Rourke, University of Notre Dame / USA

Communication Strategy
Always involves five basic considerations
 Communicator: who should send this message?
 Audience: who should receive this message?
 Message: what should we say?
 Channel Choice: how should we send this message?
 Cultural Context: what cultural factors will affect this
attempt at communication?

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Communication Strategy
As you formulate communication strategy, you should
also consider:
 Your communication objectives. What do you want from
this interaction?

 Your communication style. How will you approach your

subject and your audience?

 Your credibility. What does your audience think of you, and

how will that affect their response?

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Communication Objectives
Defining your objectives will make you more efficient
and effective as a communicator.
 General Objective: “Improve corporate cash flow.”
 Action Objective: “Reduce accounts receivable aging to 30
days or less.”
 Communication Objective: “As a direct result of this
letter/phone call/personal contact, this client will be
motivated to pay the account.”

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Communication Style
 Your choice of communication style will depend on
two key factors:
 Audience Involvement: Will this audience be more passive or more
active as we communicate?
 Content Control: How much control will we need over the content of
this communication.

 Four choices emerge for you to select from:

 Tell  Sell
 Consult  Join

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 Choosing an Appropriate Style

Low

Content
Control

High
Low High
Audience Involvement
 Choosing an Appropriate Style

Low

Content
Control

High
Low High
Audience Involvement
 Choosing an Appropriate Style

Low

Content
Control

High
Low High
Audience Involvement
 Choosing an Appropriate Style

Low

Content
Control

High
Low High
Audience Involvement
 Choosing an Appropriate Style

Low

Content
Control

Tell

High
Low High
Audience Involvement
 Choosing an Appropriate Style

Low

Content
Control Sell

Tell

High
Low High
Audience Involvement
 Choosing an Appropriate Style

Low

Consult
Content
Control Sell

Tell

High
Low High
Audience Involvement
 Choosing an Appropriate Style

Low Join

Consult
Content
Control Sell

Tell

High
Low High
Audience Involvement
The Tell / Sell Styles

 Feature lower audience involvement and higher

content control.
 Use the tell style to inform and the sell style to
persuade.
 In these situations:
 you have already sufficient information,
 you don’t need to hear other’s opinions or ideas,
 you need or want to control message content yourself.

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The Consult / Join Styles

 Feature higher audience involvement and lower

content control
 Use the consult style to gather information or learn
from the audience. Use the join style to
collaborate with members of the audience.
 In these situations:
 you do not have sufficient information,
 you need to hear other’s opinions, ideas, or input,
 you want to involve your audience in content.

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Communication Credibility

Five factors will generally affect your

credibility:
• Rank
• Goodwill
• Expertise
• Image
• Shared Values
Begin by emphasizing your initial credibility and work
to increase your acquired credibility with the audience.

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Audience Strategy

Involves answering four sets of questions:

 Who are they?
 What do they know?
 What do they feel?
 How can you motivate them?

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Who Are They?

 Primary Audience: who will receive your written or

spoken message directly?
 Secondary Audience: consider any hidden audiences
who will receive your message indirectly.
 Gatekeepers: Is there someone you need to route your
message through who might filter or block it?
 Opinion Leaders: Who has significant influence over
members of the audience?
 Key Decision-Makers: Who has power to influence the
outcome of the communication?

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 What Do They Know?

 How much background information do they

need?
 How much new information do they need?
 What are their expectations and preferences?
 Style Preferences (formal or informal, direct or indirect)?
 Channel Preferences (paper, e-mail, face-to-face, group or
individual)?
 Length and Format Preferences (how should this message
appear to your audience)?

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 How Do They Feel?

 What’s their level of interest in your message?

 What’s their probable bias: positive, negative, or
neutral?
 How difficult is your desired outcome for them?
Will this be relatively easy for them to buy into,
or somewhat difficult?

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How Can You Motivate Them?

 Shared Values and Common Ground: Begin with views and

values you hold in common, then move to areas where
disagreement is more likely.
 Goodwill and Reciprocity: This is a form of bargaining. You
gain a concession by granting a favor.
 Rank and Reward/Punishment: Though inappropriate for most
audiences, the removal of privileges or threats to do so may
motivate the response you want.
 Message Structure: Arrangement of your message may help
through inoculation techniques, segmented actions (“foot in the
door”), or two-sided arguments.

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Message Strategy

Consider emphasis and organization.

Using the direct approach.
“The committee recommends this policy for three
reasons: it will be cheaper, faster, and longer lasting.”

Using the indirect approach.

“Because it will be cheaper, faster, and longer lasting,
the committee recommends this policy.”

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The Direct Approach

 Advantages of the direct approach:

 Improves comprehension.
 It’s audience-centered.
 It saves time.

 Why don’t more people use the direct approach?

 Habit
 Suspense
 Academic Training
 Effort Involved

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The Direct Approach

When should you consider using a direct

communication approach to your audience?
 All non-sensitive messages with no emotional
overtones.
 Sensitive messages if the audience’s bias is positive.
 Sensitive messages if the audience is results-oriented.
 Sensitive messages if your credibility is particularly
high.

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The Indirect Approach

 When should you consider using an indirect

communication approach to your audience?
 Because this approach takes longer and does not
take advantage of an audience’s initial attentiveness
at the beginning of a message, use it only when:
 Sensitive message with emotional overtones and
 Your audience’s bias is negative and
 Your audience is analysis-oriented and
 Your credibility is low.

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Channel Choice Strategy

Writing or Speaking?
 Writing produces a permanent record, can be used
to convey great detail, is often much more precise,
and can be used for careful wording.
 Speaking produces a richer context, including non-
verbal cues, less rigidity, less permanence, no
permanent record, and may be quicker.

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Channel Choice Strategy

Formal or Informal?
 Formal channels may be needed for legal negotiations,
tend to be precise, controlled, logical, focused,
organized, conclusive, decisive, and action-oriented.
 Informal channels may be better when you need to
gather new ideas; tend to be fast, interactive,
uninhibited, innovative, creative, open, candid,
communal, and flexible.

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Channel Choice Strategy

Individual or Group?
 Individual channels help build individual relationships, gain
individual responses, may be more secure or private. Example:
telephone, voice mail, personal memos, letters, fax, or e-mail.

 Group channels help build group relationships or identity, gain

group responses (including consensus), avoid excluding people,
make sure all audience members receive the message at the same
time. Example: group meetings, electronic bulletin boards,
news groups, videoconferences, conference calls, memos, fax, or
e-mail.

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Cultural Strategy

Not all cultures react to senders, messages, or channels

in the same way. It’s best to consider your audience’s
probable reaction from a cultural point of view.
 Time
 Power Distance
 Communication Style
 Non-verbal Mannerisms
 Language

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