What's the best way to improve your message design skills?

1 Know your audience

The first step to improve your message design skills is to understand your audience. Who are they, what are their needs, interests, values, and preferences? How do they communicate, and what channels do they use? What are their expectations and challenges? By knowing your audience, you can tailor your message to their characteristics, motivations, and concerns, and make it relevant, meaningful, and persuasive.

2 Define your purpose

The second step to improve your message design skills is to define your purpose. What do you want to achieve with your message, and what action do you want your audience to take? Do you want to inform, persuade, motivate, or inspire them? By defining your purpose, you can focus your message on the main point, and avoid unnecessary or distracting information. You can also use clear and specific language, and provide a clear call to action.

3 Apply message design principles

The third step to improve your message design skills is to apply message design principles . These guidelines can help structure, format, and deliver your message in a way that boosts its effectiveness and impact. For example, the inverted pyramid model suggests beginning with the most important information, followed by the supporting details, and ending with the background or context. The AIDA model encourages you to attract the attention of your audience, generate interest in your message, create desire for your offer or solution, and prompt action. You may also use the SCRAP model to make your message simple, concrete, relevant, accurate, and positive. Additionally, you can use the CATT model to ensure that your message is clear, appropriate, truthful, and timely.

4 Use visual aids

The fourth step to improve your message design skills is to use visual aids. Visual aids are elements that can enhance your message by adding visual appeal, clarity, emphasis, or evidence. Examples of visual aids include images, graphs, charts, diagrams, icons, and videos. Through the use of visual aids, you can capture the attention of your audience and increase their retention and recall. They can also simplify complex or abstract concepts and data, as well as highlight key points or comparisons. Moreover, you can support your claims or arguments with facts or examples.

5 Seek feedback

The fifth step to improve your message design skills is to seek feedback. Feedback is the information you receive from your audience or other sources about the quality and effectiveness of your message. It can help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your message, measure the results and outcomes, and learn from mistakes and successes. This will enable you to make adjustments and apply the lessons to future messages.

6 Practice and learn

The sixth and final step to improve your message design skills is to practice and learn. Through this process, you can develop your creativity and confidence as a communicator, as well as adapt to different audiences and purposes. Additionally, you can discover new techniques and tools for message design, so that you can stay up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in strategic communications.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?