09 Oct Cutting Through the Noise
Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.
Strategies in the Age of Misinformation
With the explosion of social media, misinformation and disinformation are rampant and necessitate strategies for cutting through the noise.
These thought leaders provide time-tested wisdom on how to cut through the noise:
- Steve Jobs was a vocal advocate for simplicity. It’s true that “Simple can be harder than complex.” It takes time to analyze, clarify, and refine in order to simplify and strengthen your brand’s key messages and all of your strategic communications. Simplifying is an iterative process.
- Jakob Nielsen, a pioneer in usability, who wrote “How Users Read on the Web“ and “Aesthetic Minimalist Design,“, is also an advocate for simplicity and for writing online that is “concise, scannable and objective.”
- Mainstream media publications have general consensus on the ideal line length, font size, and page design principles that cut through the noise and make it easy to read quickly and easefully.
Finally, in Post-Truth and On Disinformation, Lee McIntyre advocates for repetition of the truth:
“…simply telling the truth can have a powerful effect. The truth can be an effective weapon against disinformation, but it has to be told – loudly and repeatedly – by its allies. Truth too needs amplification.”
“The repetition of true facts does eventually have an effect.”
To penetrate the noise, consider re-purposing your content and saying the important things multiple times and in multiple venues.
Especially in the age of “attention deficit,” communicating an important message once, likely won’t do the job.
