Download Worksheet for Step 4 of the 8-Step Communication Planning Model

Worksheet for Step 4 of the 8-Step Communication Planning Model*
The 8-Step Communication Planning Model enables users
to create an effective, site-specific communication plan. The
model, illustrated here, will help you:
 Assess where you are right now (Step 1)
 Set measurable communication goals and objectives
(Step 2)
 Define your intended audiences (Step 3)
 Develop and pretest messages (Step 4)
 Select the best ways to deliver your messages (Step 5)
 Create an action plan (Step 6)
 Develop and pretest materials (Step 7)
 Implement, evaluate, and modify your plan (Step 8)
Steps 1-5 represent the development of your strategy. In Steps 6-8, you move from strategy to action. Engage your
staff and partners in learning about the model and creating a communication plan tailored to your program and the
populations you serve.
Step 4: Develop and Pretest Messages
Purpose of Step 4: To develop effective messages that resonate with your intended audiences and motivate them
to think, feel, or act in ways that support your communication goals.
Messages can be informative (i.e., they convey new facts to raise awareness) or persuasive (i.e., they change
attitudes or behavior or persuade someone to take action). Some messages are both. Your messages will become the
underlying themes that are highlighted in your program’s activities, presentations, and materials, and in any other
methods you use to reach your audiences. For each intended audience, effective messages:
 Convey how the program is relevant to the audience’s beliefs and values.
 Demonstrate the urgency of the program by relating it to the audience’s core concerns.
 Put a “face” on your program or issue.
 Motivate the intended audience to think, feel, or act.
 Use language that is as free of technical, scientific, and bureaucratic jargon as possible.
 Make sense to the intended audience.
Components of an Effective Message
Developing messages that resonate deeply with your broad audiences and smaller audience segments can be
challenging. It helps to remember that it’s not what we want the audience to hear, it’s what they are able to hear.
The challenge is crafting messages that make sense to your audience and effectively promote your program. The goal
is to create messages that meet a given audience where they are and provide them with information they want to
hear and need to know. Effective messages contain the following components:
 They create a frame for your message that is based in the audience’s values.
 They outline benefits to the audience.
 They overcome any barriers the audience may have.
 They state a call to action or next steps that you want the audience to take.
* This model is based on the National Cancer Institute’s Making Health Communication Programs Work (the “Pink Book”; 2001), with additional
information drawn from Kotler, Roberto, and Lee’s Social Marketing: Improving the Quality of Life (2002).
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Create a Values-Based Frame for Your Message
A message frame provides a context for your audience to understand your program. A successful message frames
your issues in the context of a value that your audience holds. Using a values-based frame demonstrates that you and
your audience share the same hopes for your community and its future.
To craft a values-based message frame, consider how your audience might answer this question: “What kind of
community do you want to live in?” You want to identify values that are indisputably true for your audience and that
represent the big dreams they hold dear. Does each of your audiences most want to live in a community that is:
Thoughtful?
Caring? Safe?
Honest?
Just?
Diverse?
Healthy?
Respectful?
Creative?
Successful?
Responsible?
Fair?
Optimistic?
Hopeful?
Equitable?
Realistic?
Educated?
Authentic?
Family-focused?
Wise?
Outline the Benefits
Your audiences will want to understand how your program will benefit them. When considering how your initiative
benefits your audiences, it helps to ask whether you are able to solve a problem for them. While it might seem that
the greatest benefit to your program is that it helps youth, others may see it differently. For example, a local
business might value your program’s promoting the business at program events and mentioning the business on
your website. A juvenile justice agency might value your program’s ability to reduce its caseload by working to
prevent juvenile delinquency. And a community mental health agency might value the increased referrals it receives
as a result of partnering with your program.
Overcome Barriers
Your audience may have reservations about what you are asking for. They may feel you are asking for something that
is too time-consuming or expensive, or that what you are asking is not realistic or relevant for them. You need to
overcome these reservations or barriers and explain that what you are asking is easy for your audience to do. To craft
messages that outline benefits and overcome barriers, stay focused on your audience segment’s needs, beliefs,
values, and priorities (from Step 3) and consider how you can use powerful anecdotes and quantitative data that will
resonate with your audience.
State a Call to Action
Your message needs to contain a call to action—what you would like your audience to do next. An effective call to
action can be simple and straightforward. Consider the following calls to action:
 Have a phone conversation
 Write a letter or make a phone call
 Introduce you to someone
 Invite you to speak to a group
 Attend a meeting
 Provide services to clients
 Provide funding for sustainability
 Change a behavior
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Developing Messages Worksheet
In the top section of the worksheet below, fill in a communication objective (from Step 2) and an intended audience
segment (from Step 3). Then craft a simple message for each of the message components in the left-hand column.
Make as many copies of this worksheet as you need.
Communication Objective:
Intended Audience Segment:
Input Information Requested
Message Component
Your Message
Values-Based Message Frame
What statement will link your
efforts to your audience’s core
values?
Outline the Benefits
How will your audience benefit
from what you’re asking? Can you
solve a problem for them?
Overcome Barriers
How will you convince your
audience that it’s easy to say “yes”
to your request?
Call to Action
What specific steps do you want
your audience to take?
The four message components you have listed here will serve as the foundation for your message to this audience
segment.
A Final Word about Messages: Pretesting
Even the most carefully crafted message will not be effective if it doesn’t resonate with your audience. We urge you
to pretest your messages with a few members of your intended audiences to determine if they are relevant and
persuasive. If a particular message doesn’t have the effect you hoped for, adjust the message before you move
ahead. Taking the time to pretest messages can save your program a lot of time and money in the long run.
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