Intended impact

What do you want your readers to do?

• do something?
• learn something?
• change their point of view?
• keep the document for future reference?

MAKING THINGS HAPPEN

Communication is always about making something happen. Take some time to think about the specific action you want the reader to do after reading your material. The most effective communication has a primary focus. Knowing the purpose of the document will help you identify it.

This will help you determine:

• the essential information to include
• the order in which to present the information
• words to use and words to avoid
• sentence length and structure
• tone (neutral, friendly, assertive)
• style (question and answer, narrative, point form)
• length of the document
• format (pamphlet, flyer, letter, poster, comic strip)
• design (type size, headings, illustrations, colour)