MEPX
Chapter 4 of 10All chapters
  1. 1The curse of knowledge
  2. 2Listening
  3. 3Being understood
  4. 4Choosing the channel
  5. 5Feedback
  6. 6Difficult conversations
  7. 7Meetings
  8. 8Remote and written
  9. 9Adapting to the audience
  10. 10Getting better

Chapter 4 of 10

Choosing the channel

Matching medium to message.

What fits where

Complex or reference information should be written. Sensitive, ambiguous or emotional topics need voice or face to face. Announcements need a durable channel people can find later.

  • Chat is fast and disappears; documents persist and are findable.
  • Bad news delivered by message reads worse than it was meant.

Written and spoken

Writing forces precision and removes tone. Speaking carries tone and leaves no record. Combining them, with a written summary after a call, covers both weaknesses.