Good written communication matters in international development. To capture people’s interest, engage them in your messaging and achieve your objective, your communication should be meaningful, truthful, well organised, concise, readable and carefully worded. This blog, the first of two, considers the importance of identifying and targeting your audience, being clear about your objective, and engaging readers by focusing on human interest and people’s experience.
Whether you are writing or editing a report, proposal, press release, case study, success story or any other written material, be sure to take into consideration the following principles.
Know your audience and objective
First, who is your communication for and how do you want to influence them? What does your audience care about? What do you want them to do as a result of your communication?
You may be writing (or editing) for one or more donors – seeking to persuade them to fund a new programme or project; showing them that work they fund is achieving impact and deserves support; or providing a final report demonstrating how effectively you have used their funds (and perhaps convincing them to consider further funding). Naturally, you should also be honest about any problem areas.
Your focus may be more on policy than on funding. For example, your target may be the government or intergovernmental officials (such as at UN agencies) or other power-holders. Your objective may be to persuade them to introduce a new policy or legislation or to modify a policy or pressure them to act.
You may be writing/editing for peer or partner organisations, seeking to persuade them to engage with your issue, take action, and/or collaborate with or support your organisation or campaign.
Or your target may be your organisation’s supporters, volunteers or the general public, who you want to become more involved in the issues you work on, join your campaign, help spread the word or donate money.
Journalists may be your main audience for a press release, because you want them to take an interest in your work and share the news through their outlets.
Whatever your intended audience, knowing who they are and thinking about how best to persuade them will help you choose the right medium or media and decide how to frame your message and what tone to use.
You may sometimes have multiple audiences in mind for one communication, such as a long research report or an online article. But it is usually worth adapting and tailoring communications for different target audiences.
Be clear about your medium, message and tone
Knowing your audience often makes your choice of medium, message and tone straightforward. Many donors have a set format for project proposals and funding reports. Or, to bring an issue to public attention, you may have already decided to undertake research and publish a report or an online article. Or you may have in mind a human interest story, press release or social media post.
Some media work well in combination. For example, you could summarise a detailed research report in a briefing, publish both as downloads with an online news item or article on your organisation’s website, and promote these outputs on social media.
Messaging is crucial. Be direct and upfront about your concern, why it matters and the action you want people to take. Provide accurate factual evidence. Focus on root causes and on solutions that fit the problem. Show change is possible, such as by highlighting previous examples of positive change in comparable situations.
Make your messages engaging and motivating by including the perspectives and voices of people closest to – most affected by – the issue (see below) and by referring to shared values of justice or fairness, such as the Sustainable Development Goals’ principle of leaving no one behind.
You may choose a formal tone for your communication. Be respectful towards readers and, even more importantly, towards anyone you talk about – be they individuals, communities, donors, partners or other actors. Avoid jargon, slang and over-complex language. Explain specialist terms.
Reread what you have written after an interval to check your tone and other aspects of your communication. Get an external review or have it professionally edited/proofread if possible.
Provide the facts and draw out the human dimension
Ensure you cover the basic facts at the start of your communication. Use the ‘5Ws (and H)’: ‘Who is this about?’ ‘What happened or should have happened but didn’t?’ ‘When did this take place?’ ‘Where?’ and ‘Why?’ There’s also an H: ‘How did this happen or not happen?’
Once you have stated the bare facts, go into more detail in a logical way. Focus on the human dimension to bring your audience with you. Who are the people most involved in the issue you are describing? Treat them as development subjects, not objects. What do they experience and how does this need to change?
Enabling people to speak for themselves will increase your communication’s authenticity. Help people tell their own story in their own words by including quotes.
Get people’s informed consent if you want to quote them and/or include their personal details such as name, sex or national identity. Ensure they are fully aware of what you intend and they agree to share these details. They may have valid reasons to wish not to be identified, so be ready to exclude or change people’s personal details if they request anonymity. Make sure that any people you mention receive a copy of your written piece, a draft if possible as well as the final copy.
The second blog in this two-blog series, Communicating Effectively: Evidence-Based, Inclusive and Logical Writing, covers the importance of communications being evidence based and factually accurate; anti-oppressive, inclusive and empowering framing and language use; and editorial quality (logic, good organisation, clarity, consistency, readability).
Interested readers can access a list of resources here. The two blogs are based on the webinar ‘Writing and Editing for International Development’, recording available here.
Contributor: Miles Litvinoff, Senior Writer & Editor, Consult KM International
consultkm.org 