Immunization and child health materials development guide pdf

Step 3. Develop Messages 23
A. What Is a Message?
A message is a short phrase or sentence that summarizes your story in simple and understandable
terms. It’s the “take-away” information that’s repeated to friends, colleagues, and others. A
good message is usually short, to the point, and interesting.
Examples of key immunization messages are:
• Immunizations save about three to four million lives a year!
• Still, every ten seconds a child dies of a vaccine-preventable disease.
• Immunizations are the most cost-effective health intervention available today.
• The average child in the developing world is ten times more likely to die of a vaccinepreventable
disease than is a child in the industrialized world.
• The goal of the Global Alliance of Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI) and its worldwide
partners is to safely immunize every child.
B. What Does It Mean to Be “On-Message?”
When a public figure is giving a speech, s/he is reminded constantly to stay on-message.
Essentially, it is a reminder to stick to the key points of the speech, to not get lost in the details,
and to bring the audience back to the key points again and again. Staying on-message is key
to every communications tool you create, no matter what the medium.
Never assume your audience will spend more than a few moments reading written materials
or listening attentively to radio and television programs. State your messages early, state them
clearly, and then state them again. If intelligible messages are missing from your materials, your
audience will usually come up with their own messages—sometimes to your disadvantage.
C. How Many Messages Are Enough?
The number of messages to include in a material depends on how much time your audience
will spend with it. For example, a billboard is an obvious example of a one-message medium.
Passing drivers will give your billboard only a split-second of their attention. If your message is
too complex, or if you’re trying to convey more than one message, your viewer will likely miss
your point completely.
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