One of my day-to-day tasks at RBC was managing “CB News”, a role-targeted newsfeed published on the retail banking group’s Intranet. Each news article answered a series of questions for the reader:
- What’s the change?
- How will this change impact me and/or my client?
- What specific actions do I need to take to support this change?
- Where can I find more information regarding this change?
Success meant ensuring that every one of the hundreds of news articles I published each year followed this format. Readers could rest assured that the information they needed was easy to find and easy to read.
Effective, empowering communications need not be fluffy or overly detailed. Respect your audience’s time and intelligence and avoid the temptation to over-inform, or drown them in corporate-speak. Subtracting sense does not add value.
Keep it real. Your readers will thank you for it.
