poseycorp helps innovators become great communicators. (Sometimes by sending out helpful stuff in a newsletter.)
ISSUE 153
Repetition is a super power
Hey CEO - is the new shiny idea that just captured your attention the right thing to talk about in your speech/media interviews/podcast today??
Or would it be better to talk about the great product your company shipped two months ago? The one on which your annual revenue depends? The one your
whole team has killed themselves to successfully launch?
So many brilliant CEOs, to the great frustration of their Communications, Marketing, and Product people, seem to shift messages every few months. They react to what competitors, board members, the Wall Street Journal, or some dude on the airplane said.
Based on my decades of observation, most of you restless tech leaders justify changing messages because you think customers will get bored with current messages, that the industry will assume you have no new ideas if you’re not talking about new stuff all the time, or because it’s just boring to
repeat yourself.
Will your customers get bored? No. They are paying much less attention to you than you think they are. They are busy running their own companies and lives. Every once in a while they perk up and listen to you, and then they go back to work. You are deeply immersed in your message. None of your audiences are. Most of them don’t even register what you’re saying until they’ve heard it multiple times. This is exactly the purpose of consistency. It takes repetition to reach people. Politicians know this. This is why stump speeches exist!
Worried that the world won’t think you’re forward
thinking enough? If you change what you say to suit every ebb and tide in the industry, your inconsistency will confuse everyone (including your own team). You’ll waste time and money. You’ll squander opportunities, because you are not building attention through consistency (see above). And then, when your eight new messages in one quarter don’t captivate the market, you’ll think it’s because your messages aren’t compelling enough. You will be wrong. Consistently and confidently delivering even a mundane message is better than constantly shifting in the search for perfection.
And if you’re bored, suck it up. Stop chasing bright shiny objects! Part of your job in any leadership role is to be a human marketing machine, a deft and disciplined spokesperson, a meat puppet. Do
you think politicians like saying the same words every single day over and over again? They do not. They do it because it works. You should too!
On
poseyblog
We're still talking about how you shouldn't talk too much:
“You
really f*ing helped!” said a comms leader who needed help getting her executives on board with repeating their message.
If you’d like great results, schedule a conversation with me! It’s easy! Reach me at inquiries@poseycorp.com.
Not sure how to crush your next presentation? Persuade that difficult customer or team member? Navigate tough questions from regulators, press, your boss? How about some pragmatic, actionable communications advice?
If you are a startup founder, an intrapreneur at a company, or a leader looking to grow, consider Office Hours with Lisa, a great way to get bite-sized, personalized communications coaching. Because your business must scale and you must scale with it. Because it’s the great communicators who create change!
