Our culture  is always on the go. The faster we go, the more we value communication that concise, complete, and clear. As youth workers trying to engage the people of our culture, we’ve got to be able to say more with less. That said, here are three “C’s” that can help us communicate with our on-the-go culture well.

Concise

Whether it’s TV, social media, internet browsing, or seeing a billboard while driving, the people that we serve are bombarded by thousands of messages each day. As youth workers who are tasked with meeting students where they’re at, we need to recognize that in the midst of all these messages, the ministry’s new event or program can get lost in the shuffle. This is where concise communication is key. Try to answer the following questions with no more than one sentence for each. Who? What? When? Where? Why? As a side note, I’d recommend you start with why, and work your way from big picture to small. This helps students hear your heart and vision for the given program. Why? What? Who? When? Where?

Complete

While concise communication is important, complete communication is paramount. Complete doesn’t go against concise…in fact, it compliments it. We need to be concise, but also need to be prepared to tell the bigger story. Compliment your announcement with a quick video, photo from a prior year, or short testimony from a student. Get creative with your communication and make it complete!

Clear

The trouble with being concise and complete is that there’s still one more aspect to good communication: clarity. In this case, clarity has to do with what audience you’re talking to. Though your event or program will run the same no matter what, different audiences of people need to hear the information presented in different ways in order to have clarity on your vision. A group of parents, the elder board, and your Junior High boys might all want to know more about the same event, but these different audiences all need different concise and complete information in order for them to see your vision with clarity.