Layering is not just good advice for surviving a San Francisco summer, but also a great way to communicate complex concepts to your target audiences.
In the early days of the David Letterman show, they would take things up to the studio roof and hurl them down onto the street below. Watching microwaves and blenders smash to bits on the sidewalk was, back in the 80s, hilarious television.
What does this have to do with communicating? You can’t just fling your complicated message out into the world and expect it to be absorbed. It will smash like a TV hitting asphalt. No one will get it. Your great idea won’t get traction.
So, what do you do? You lay down featherbeds. Your featherbeds are layers of context for your idea. Great communicators featherbed their audiences’ minds in the months and weeks before dropping a big idea.
Let’s say you have a profound innovation in epigenetics that’s going to transform medicine. Everyone needs to understand your idea, not just other researchers. Featherbed in this manner:
- Talk about medicine and disease interventions today. How do things work now? Where are the holes? What’s wrong?
- Move on to the design and technical challenges inherent in fixing these holes.
- Explain what epigenetics is in general – use metaphors from nature, use examples. Create a vocabulary that your audience can absorb.
- Then, lay your idea on them – how and why epigenetics is perfect for this tough problem you’ve identified.
- Follow up by pointing out interesting demographics, enlisting commentary from third party experts to illustrate the great future your epigenetics innovation can deliver.
Yes, you can do this all in one presentation if you have an audience that is engaged enough (or obligated) to listen to you. But to reach a broad audience (who doesn’t know they should be engaged and interested), you’re better off doing a dramatic reveal over several weeks.
Great featherbedders anchor their campaign with a strong story to draw people in – a patient in peril, a doctor desperate to find a solution. Create a sweeping narrative for your audience to follow over several weeks and you’ll educate them whether they realize it or not! You can use any medium – video, podcasts, blog posts – all of the above. Just tell your audience that there will be more next week.
When you featherbed your big idea it comes in for a smooth landing every time. And doesn’t every great idea deserve that?
Communication is the essential last mile in finding and motivating the right teams, acquiring strong allies, powerfully bonding with customers, and capturing mindshare with compelling stories. Nothing will serve you and your vision better than developing exceptional communication skills. If you’d enjoy finding pragmatic communications advice in your inbox every month, please click here to receive poseycorp’s newsletter.
