Consistency of Message

No one communicates perfectly all the time. We either misspeak or fail to speak in a way that our intended can understand. The matter that the person or persons to whom we are speaking may not be listening to what it is we are saying is another glitch that gets in the way of perfect communicating. One way to help improve the odds that your efforts to communicate are successful is to send out your message in multiple ways. The multiple strategies, if timed well, can also reinforce each other and make your message even more effective.

Potential problems can be if one either does not use multiple strategies or, if they do, fails to ensure that their multiple messages are in sync and not contradictory. Making a romantic dinner date, for instance, is certainly a powerful way of communicating one's feelings toward another. But, then, if you show up for that date either late or drunk or both, then the message you are giving by your behavior contradicts the message you communicated when you made the date in the first place. The key is to be consistent in what you say and do. When one veers away from that simple rule, their credibility is compromised and, before you know it, your ability to communicate at all in a meaningful way is either lost or seriously damaged.

Given the political climate within our nation these days, the question of how well and how consistently the top candidates are in their outreach efforts. As I write this, Senator Obama is leading the polls and, if anything, seems to be building on that lead. What role is his ability to communicate consistently playing in this? On the flip side, Senator McCain's campaign is foundering. Could the fact that the messages he has been communicating have been erratic and inconsistent be one of the reasons for the state of his campaign? Definitely yes. One is consistent in message and one is not. One is enjoying a groundswell of support while the other is not. Obviously there are other factors that are contributing to the ups and downs of this year's presidential race, but none are more fundamental than their ability to communicate with consistent messages.