Audience, purpose and structure
Organise communication around the reader's decision and information needs.
What you will learn
- State the purpose before supporting detail.
- Select evidence for the intended audience.
- Make the requested action, owner and timing explicit.
Useful communication is designed around what the reader must understand or do. Lead with the decision, request or conclusion, then provide the evidence and context needed to act.
Core method
Useful communication is designed around what the reader must understand or do. Lead with the decision, request or conclusion, then provide the evidence and context needed to act.
- Define the exact decision or claim before analysing detail.
- Use evidence that is relevant to the stated context.
- Record uncertainty instead of replacing it with confident wording.
Applied case
A project update begins with six paragraphs of history before revealing that a regulatory deadline is at risk. The critical information is present, but the structure delays action.
Apply the method
Rewrite the opening as two sentences for the accountable executive.
Review answer guidance
The regulatory submission is at risk of missing Friday's deadline because two required reviews remain incomplete. Please assign legal review by noon today; the project lead will confirm readiness at 16:00.
Use in an assessment
Apply the method to the information provided in the task. A strong response makes its reasoning traceable and does not rely on specialist facts that are absent from the evidence.
- Read the requested outcome and constraints first.
- Eliminate responses that exceed the available evidence.
- Review whether the conclusion answers the precise question.