Walk into Costco and you can buy almost anything.

You can pick up zucchini, a television, a new set of tires, a kayak and enough toilet paper to last longer than you’d probably care to admit. And somehow, it works. Costco can be many things to many people.

Your communication can’t.

One of the easiest ways to weaken a message is to try to make it relevant to everyone. We add more information. We broaden the language. We explain every angle, so no one feels left out.

And somewhere along the way, the message loses its point.

Who Are You Actually Speaking To?

“Know your audience” is standard communication advice, and it happens to be the starting point in our tool, The Power To Connect. And “Who is your audience?” is a question that’s easy to interpret too narrowly.

Knowing your audience goes well beyond demographics, job titles or where someone sits on an organizational chart. It’s important to understand what’s happening in their world right now.

What are they worried about? W...