When preparing to share a message with anyone, it’s always worth considering three fundamental questions:

1. Why do you want to communicate a message to another person or persons?
2. What it is you want them to do?
3. How you might proceed going forward?

Once you’ve established the why, what and how of any communication, you can start to think about structuring your communication appropriately. This might sound a bit formulaic at first, but if you reflect upon some of the most influential messages you have received, you will find that they do often fall nicely into these three categories.

The order of questioning is important too. Going headlong into a communication that starts with what an individual or group needs to do is usually unhelpful and may be seen as pushy. People will naturally want to understand the reason why you want to make a change or ask them to do something and will therefore want you to provide some context or background to the benefits of taking action.