We have all been taught the importance of staying on message.  Unfortunately, "message" is one of those over-used words that has come to mean different things to different people.  Let's focus on one of Webster's definitions of message:

"An underlying theme or idea"

We often use a set of words as a short-cut to the message to make it easier to remember.  It's important to keep in mind that the words are just that, the short-cut.  They are not the message.  The message is the underlying theme or idea behind the words.

Misuse of message

It's election season in the USA.  That means political ads and political debates.  Different politicians manage their message differently.  Some are prisioners of their message, repeating the same words over and over again without engaging others in conversations to make sure they get the underlying idea.  Others do better.

Michael Slaby did a particularly good job at Edelman's recent conference on social communication, explaining that the Obama campaign started by figuring out "who we are and what our values are", then building everything off that.

Message components

The best messages flow from purpose.  Think through and communicate:

• Who we are (core values)
• What we are striving to accompish (mission, vision, objectives)
• Our approach (posture and strategic priorities)
• What we do next (tactical actions)