Written communication is a critical skill in terms of establishing credibility, influencing others and impacting goals. In this month's Training Tips, we'll provide ideas for planning your communication. Next month, we'll explore ways to ensure that your writing has impact.

The key to preparing effective written communication is to focus on the reader. Before firing off that e-mail to a team member, memo to your boss or letter to a customer, ask yourself these questions:

Purpose - I'm writing to:

• Cause my reader to act
• Inform my reader of something

Desired result - I want my reader to:

• Do this:
  or
  
• Know this:

Reader -

• My reader is:
• The specific interests and needs of my reader include:

I will keep in mind that the typical reader has these questions:

-->  What is this about?
-->  What's in it for me?
-->  What am I supposed to do, and when?
-->  What information must I learn from this document?
-->  What can I skip?

Format - The best format for this document is:

Once you've answered these questions, use the responses to build your communication. For example, consider how this e-mail might be re-written to focus on the reader:

If we had prepared for writing by asking ourselves about our reader, we may have written this more effective e-mail:

So spend a few minutes planning your written communication around your reader's needs and interests. You'll increase both the impact and influence of your communication by writing for your reader.