If you were to explain what you do for a living, how would you do it?  Likely you have a 30-second elevator pitch put together, right?

Now, how would you explain that same job to your neighbor?  The old lady that sits next to you in church?  Your teenage son?  The neighbors five-year-old daughter?  It’s the same message being delivered to all the different people, but you’re not going to use the same words for each one.  They each comprehend differently, some know exactly what you’re saying, others require a little more description.

The same goes for your messaging when you’re writing to different groups.  You have to change things up a little depending on who you’re speaking with.

Why You Need to Customize Your Message

Stephen Covey, in his popular book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, stated, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”  Great advice when you’re developing relationships, however, the second part “be understood” requires even more work than the first part, “to understand.”

The point of any communication isn’t to express, it’s to be understood.  You’ve probably seen those guys standing on the street corner holding a giant wooden cross, shouting into a megaphone about how you need to repent.  They’re very good at expressing, but nobody is really understanding the message they’re trying to deliver.

You have an amazing message.  One that combines experience and your personal story and journey.  That message is going to flop if you’re not customizing it to the right audience.

It’s like preparing a fantastic presentation about modern-day technology, complete with slides, analogies, and enough technical details to get the point across, but not too much that you lose the non-technical crowd.  And then you deliver that speech to a kindergarten class.

Understanding Who You’re Talking To

To avoid that problem, you have to know who you’re talking to.  Sometimes that means creating the same message in different formats as you deliver it to different audiences.

Doing so is going to take a bit of work.  You’ll need to dig into demographics, a little bit of psychology (or psychographics to see how that audience processes information), and most importantly – understand the pain points of those to whom you’re speaking.

No matter what you’re talking about, what your presenting, who you’re presenting to, your ultimate goal is to alleviate the pain they’re experiencing (if you’re selling something, you want to tease that in.  Show that you understand the pain point, offer a little bit of a solution, but ultimately encourage them to purchase your product or service that will be the full solution to their pain).  Different audiences will have different pain points, but the same product or service can alleviate those pains if the message is tweaked just the right way.

For example, suppose you offer a service that complements a mainstream physician’s work.  Let’s make it nice and simple, and suppose you’re a masseuse.  Your messaging to the doctor, where you’re trying to offer the service to their patient (perhaps a little commission for each patient they send your way), will address the pain point that they have repeat patients who aren’t listening to them and continue to struggle with physical pain.  But you don’t want to rely merely on doctor referrals, so you have to create a message right to the patients themselves.  That message isn’t going to be nearly the same as the message to the doctor (which will likely include more medical jargon) as you talk about how your services are cheaper than doctor visits, but provide longer lasting relief.

Customize the Message

When you have keyed in on who you’re speaking with, you can start to customize your message.  To do so, pay attention to these aspects.

Formal vs. Informal: Some audiences will demand a more formal presentation.  Think of this as going before the board of a big company to pitch your product and service.  You wouldn’t wear jeans and a ballcap to do so.  And you would slouch in your chair, using a bunch of slang, and speaking as though you’re out having beers with your friends.  Instead, you’ll put on a suit, have a highly polished presentation, and even do your best to avoid hmms, ums, and uhs.

Authoritative vs. Conversational: Here’s a big area that trips up a lot of people.  They want to be authoritative, but they come across as conversational.  Or, it’s the other way around.  They haven’t truly dug into what their audience is all about, and they use the wrong form of communication.  Too authoritative and they’re seen as preachy or condescending.  Too conversational, and they’re not seen as the expert they want to be.

Empathetic vs. Direct: Here’s another one that most people don’t actually pay attention to.  Empathetic communication creates connections.  It builds trust, it encourages people to connect on an emotional level.  Many people need this, and you’ve probably heard the saying that people buy from those they trust.  Not all audiences need this.  Direct communication cuts through the noise.  It’s straightforward, to-the-point, and sometimes a little blunt.  One audience needs things sugar coated (empathetic communication says, “I know you’re trying hard here, I admire your progress, to really market this product we should look at…”) another audience needs action (direct communication says, “This marketing plan isn’t working, instead we need to focus on…”).

The only way to know how to customize your message is to know your audience and what they’re all about.  Otherwise, you risk using the wrong message, and it will fall on deaf ears.

Know Your Medium

Finally, the way you deliver your message is going to change depending on where you’re giving it.

Are you on social media?  Then you need to speak in one manner toward the audience.

Are you delivering on a stage?  Delivering your message via public speaking is going to be entirely different.

Are you writing a blog?  Communication is going to change a lot from the previous two.

You get the point, analyze the best practices for delivering a message on various platforms so your message is delivered to receptive eyes and ears.

Hire a Professional Writer to Perfect Your Message

All of this takes work.  Sometimes you don’t have the time to put in this research before creating a message.  Sometimes you straight up don’t know what to do.  Why spend the time learning an entirely new industry, when there are professionals out there that can do all of this for you?

As a ghostwriter, my entire job is to learn your voice and then customize your message to those who you’re addressing.  Let’s chat about what you have going on, let’s see how we can work together for maximum impact when talking to your audience.  Book a free discovery session with me via my calendar below.