Being deliberate is easier said than done. Here are ten tips:
Understand you can't include everything in your message or plan
Start with your end goal in mind – and work backwards through critical activities
Ask yourself what you need to know to support each critical activity - and then figure out how to discover that information
Frequently ask your team (and yourself) “So what?” or "Who cares?" about your content and features - if you can't get to an economic benefit to your consumers, it may not be as important as you thought
Identify, understand and work towards delivering the key benefits that underpin your solution, idea, and/or message
Use tools or processes that prompt you to include key elements and prioritize content. Examples:
the Storyboard and message strategy table taught in the Corporate Storytelling Workshop
an innovation maturity model (are your organizational innovation capabilities balanced?)
a robust idea review process
Seek outside perspective to question your assumptions
Find help to facilitate critical events and messages – so that you can focus on the collaboration, not the planning
When presenting, determine - and stick to - your Minimum Viable Message (MVM
Recognize that every time you say "yes" that you are also saying "no" to something else - and adjust your choices to make sure the critical things get your "yes"
Need help? Agree? Disagree? Let me know!
