Life is short. Get straight to the point!

GS2P or “Get Straight to the Point”, is a leadership and communication method/mantra based on building trust to ultimately save time. It starts by listening to the audience (individual or group; customer or prospect; employee, partner or peer) to gain an understanding of who they are, what motivates them, and what’s keeping them up at night.

You demonstrate that understanding by ensuring each message to or interaction with your audience addresses three (3) elements:

Relevance – Make sure the message you deliver — a pitch, a sales proposal, an advertisement, a wireframe design, an introductory email — targets the right audience. Far too many people delivery the right idea or content to the wrong audience. From the audience’s perspective:

• Do I get the gist of the message instantaneously?
• Is the topic of the message clearly something of interest to me?
• Is the message crafted from my perspective — WIIFM — not the senders?

Compelling - Craft the content or details of the message — what you are trying to convey — in a way that compels the audience into action. From the audience’s perspective:

• Did it make me think or say “Wow! Look at this.”?
• Does it hook me immediately as an opportunity or solution?
• Does it make me want to act now, not tomorrow or next week?

Actionable – You have their attention, they have connected in some way to the message…now, tell them exactly what they need to do to get started. From the audience’s perspective:

• What is the very next step I need to take?
• Is it respectful of my time?
• Can I easily execute the next step without assistance?

With each message or interaction that is GS2P, you will build more understanding and more trust. That trust is what you leverage to build a stronger, longer-term, and more impactful relationship…one message or interaction at a time.

I will continue to blog about all things GS2P and you can also view the tools, information and people (TIPs) I feel are GS2P.

If you want an introduction to how GS2P can help you or your organization, contact me here.

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“Get Straight to the Point” (GS2P) is property of James Weddle & Associates, © 2009. All Rights Reserved.