Communicating effectively about the role of LHDs to your community, including local policymakers, health care providers, citizen groups, and your local governmental partners, is critical. But, it is essential to step outside your own frame of reference and tailor what you say and how you say it to the characteristics of your audiences. Effective communication is not about YOU, it's about THEM.
To be effective in your communications, you have to develop strong messages.
Strong messages tell us what is important and how our lives are affected. The fact sheets in the Communications Toolkit offer examples of messages about public health.
Things to remember:
- Know your target audience. Who are you trying to reach and what are some of their characteristics, concerns and values?
- Know what action you want your community's first responders to take when they hear your message.
- Consider the reward. What benefit can you offer in exchange for the action you want them to do? What reward will they get for doing what you are asking?
A good message should:
- Communicate clearly to your audience. A good message makes it clear to your audience that you are talking to them.
- Specify what you are asking. When you or your partners communicate, it should be clear what you want your audience to do. "Value public health" is not a clear request for action. A better request for your partners to make would be asking for an increase in a certain line item in a budget or a key amendment to a piece of legislation.
- Provide a reward that your audience cares about. Remember, what your audience cares about may not be what you assume. "It's good for you" is not a reward that motivates. People fail to do what's good for them every day. If your audience's priority is homeland defense, the safety and security that a strong public health system provides is a better reward than reduced smoking rates or lessened health disparities.
- Make the reward believable by providing evidence to back it up. Evidence does not have to be hard and fast data—in fact, some audiences are more convinced by a compelling example of how public health or prevention saved an individual life or made a lasting difference for a specific group.
- Use vivid and appropriate images. A good analogy can be the single most powerful way to communicate your message. People will remember it, relate to it and repeat it.
- Choose the right moment. Your message will have the greatest impact if it's in the right place at the right time. Look for ways to tie it to events that have seized your audience's attention.
- Choose the right messenger. The message often is not as important as the messenger. If you have an influential partner with the ear of your audience, they are best positioned to move your audience.
