One of the most important skills in life is to clearly communicate a message. It could be in social settings, business presentations, speaking in front of group, sales pitch or a new job interview. The challenge is to keep it to the point with a clear simple message.

In sales, knowing the product or service is important of course, but the key differentiator for successful sales results is to be able to deliver the message that will cause reaction and interaction from the other person. How many times have you listened to presentations (especially entrepreneurs giving a pitch for a capital raise) and the message is not 100% clear and concise? Clear communication and following KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid) principals is one of the biggest challenges that entrepreneur’s face when not getting funded when making a presentation to family offices, VC or individual investor roundtable meetings.

There are significant and impactful benefits of scripting and rehearsing before any presentation or meeting. This is common sense of course, but how often do we not get the results we expect by not being able to clearly communicate a message.

After you have your message written then its time to rehearse it again and again. It must become part of your subconscious and memorable. Spend time on rehearsing it just like if you were making a presentation to the President of the US!

The terms Scripting and Rehearsing can be used for anything; the following is an example with respect to personal branding:

1. Write down specifically a 1-2 minute elevator pitch of exactly what you do. Focus on keeping it tight and to the point. It could be a sentence or two or just a few words. The key is that message much resonates with people.
2. A clearly written message must be incorporated into everything you publish, online social channels and it becomes your personal mantra tied to what you actually do every day.
3. Plan on rehearsing your message verbally and out loud for 30 days. It’s best to do it in the morning (10 minutes) to get it fully in your mind before the day gets rolling.
4. After a month of rehearsing, continue to shorten and tweak the message and add to your calendar 1 day a week to just review your message.
5. Monitor the results by your new short message.

Proper preparation and clearly scripting and rehearsing your message (no matter what it is or specific purpose) will improve communication and results. Listen intently to the response from the other person or group after delivering you message.