Anytime you’re writing or speaking, take some time to establish a clear, strategic vision. Have a clear idea in your head of where you’re going, and why. With that, here are some ideas to help you get to that clear vision:

To get this kind of strategic clarity, we first need to step back and ask some important questions. What do we want for the time, money, and perhaps other resources we're committing? In other words, what is the objective? Now, go one step further and articulate that objective in terms of reader or audience response. Write down what they will do if you successfully use your Please Login or Register to see this special Members Only link. on them.

Next, write down why they would do what you're asking of them. It's one thing to have objectives, and it's quite another to serve readers' objectives as well as your own. You need to make your audience or readers aware of WIIFT – What’s In It For Them.

All of this takes work, and it will vary according to the importance of your project. But no matter its size, you know how little value you’ll realize if you jump in and write or speak without forethought.

Consider the case of the publisher who published two newsletters. The first went ahead quickly, with little strategic planning. Instead, the publisher was concerned with matters like color, typefaces, and so on. That was a mistake; the newsletter died after perhaps six or eight issues, and accomplished little.

Before starting the second newsletter, the publisher carefully worked through all the strategic issues. In fact, he started on the newsletter project in May and didn't publish the first issue until September. He didn't work full time at it, but still a lot of hours went into clarifying the strategy.

After five years, the second newsletter was still going strong, and delivering results.

In summary, your communication project has a greater chance of success if you take time up front to identify and articulate your objectives, as well as the desired reader response.