HCW Benefits Blog

Contributor:
Vicki Norris, Director of Marketing & Communications
Hill, Chesson & Woody 

Have you ever had the experience of talking to someone and yet you had the distinct feeling that you weren’t communicating with him or her?  You walk away feeling that they “just don’t get it.” If this is a common occurrence, maybe it’s not them.

Recently, I was having a conversation with a co-worker about a new survey we had developed and were getting ready to launch.  She was the project manager for the survey and I was updating her on our messaging plan and the look and feel of our communications, however I felt as if I was talking but we were not communicating. I was speaking English, but I was not connecting. Then it occurred to me — it wasn’t her fault, it was mine!

I was guilty of making one of the most common mistakes we all make. I was guilty of communicating to her in my style, not her style.  Simply put, I was talking in my language, rather than hers. I had ignored all the hints she had given me. Her side of the conversation was peppered with words and phrases like “structure, process, and efficiency.”

Those are the words and phrases of a person who has an analytical style.  In other words, she processes information logically and sequentially.  She needs data to feel comfortable.   You may ask yourself how I knew she was this style for certain. I didn’t. It was a guess. But her job was a second major clue. She leads our underwriting & risk management team.

So why is communicating in your style such a big mistake? It’s not, if everyone in your audience thinks and behaves exactly like you. How often does that happen? Survey says – rarely. Most of the people in your company audience will have a different style than you.

When you limit your communication to your own style, you risk turning off the part of the audience whose style is the opposite of yours.

Are you designing your employee messages to include a broad range of styles? In other words, are you stereotyping your audience?

Some might say, “Vicki, that’s profiling. And profiling is wrong.”

However, when it comes to communicating your message to an audience of one or 1,000, I highly recommend profiling your audience. How many audiences do you have in your organization?

Next week, we'll discuss keys to creating strong clear messages that really talk to your audience.