George Bernard Shaw
The CEO communicates the Dream, the Mission, Vision, Strategy, Goals, Plans, The Problem We Solve, How People Will Feel Better because of what we do, etc.
The CEO communicates to existing and prospective team members, customers, suppliers, investors. the press, etc.
The CEO has limited time and yet must communicate the message to potentially billions so that they take action.
There are many media of communication, including in person, phone call, online live video chat, 1-1, small group, large groups, email, text, mail, video YouTube, website, etc.
With all this communicating going on, the clever CEO will create a System for Effective Communication so that every iteration will drive continuous improvement in effectiveness considering speed, cost, and results.
The medium selected for the communication depends on factors such as audience (size, demographics, cost per result achieved, etc.
Consider an example: A pre-revenue startup that needs to communicate to billions of potential users for the purpose of getting them to download an app would likely want to choose video, probably 1-2 minutes in length. The video would be hosted with YouTube, Vimeo, and website. The audience would click through to the video from search, email links, and ads on search and social media. Before a video can be made, the Message must be clear, and the video storyboarded. And there must be a system to measure the results of the video. This feedback goes into the changes for the next version of the video.
The same video should also motivate investors, paying customers, and prospective team members to join in the adventure.
Regardless of the medium, the message itself must be Brief, Clear, Powerful, and Get Results. The message must be continuously improved through Testing. A typical Message for a pre-revenue startup mentioned above would state the Problem and the Solution and have a Call to Action. Ideally, the Message would have some element of humor to be memorable and encourage sharing.
The above gives some idea of the potential complexities of communication, and CEOs who are unfamiliar with the challenges involved are advised to create and continuously improve their System for Effective Communication.
