Cutting Through the Noise

How to be heard and stay ahead amongst the hustle and bustle

As Halloween approaches, the year’s final months loom especially large for individuals and organizations alike. People go to the polls just days after welcoming kids to their doors, and then, in quick succession, it’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, and the New Year. Under any circumstances, the rush of events can swamp even the best-laid marketing and communications plans. But this year’s holiday season, and the election news cycle bound to roll through it, promises to be even more tumultuous than most.

How, then, are you to cut through the noise to get your message through, come what may? With the understanding that some events will push any agenda aside and that there is an ebb and flow to the attention people pay to anything other than those holidays and news cycles—how do you continue to communicate your message and mission successfully despite everything?

You can start by acknowledging the reality: Very few people will read your carefully constructed messages, no matter how polished and convincing they may be, during the hustle and bustle of the holiday-heavy, end-of-year season. However, it’s much easier to navigate this obstacle when you narrow your focus and concentrate your efforts on the areas where you can be most impactful.

The process of narrowing your focus has to start with taking into account the realities of your staffing during the holiday season. People are tired and excited about time off and spending it with their families, and as we all know—time loses all meaning in December. Sit down with your team, map out everyone’s time-off requests and potential blockers, and in light of that information, create your strategic plan. This assessment may shift your priorities, and that’s ok because you’ll have a solid place to start.

Then, trim away non-essentials. This is not the time to try to make that Q3 stretch goal that was a reach to begin with; it’s time to narrow your focus to what can serve as your North Star right now. What will advance the heart of your message and serve the crux of your mission in the face of holiday parties and breaking news?

Then, having established what really matters, stick to it—and make sure you clearly communicate your plan so that everyone else can successfully support and advance your end-of-year goals. Even in the face of the best-laid plans, the unexpected will happen. A viral moment, a major news story, or any combination of a million other things may arise to distract you. Don’t let it. Trust your North Star, trust your plan, and stay focused on what you are trying to accomplish despite the latest trending distraction.

Bottom line, to get your most important message through, you may have to drop the lesser priorities. You may have to say “no,” and you may have to encourage others to say “no,” too. When teams know that the people they work with genuinely (and that really is key: genuinely) care for their well-being, it’s a lot easier to focus on the mission. And when your audiences see you remaining true to your mission, they’re a lot more inclined to grant you their most fleeting—and valuable—of commodities: their time and attention.