Immunization and child health materials development guide pdf

A meeting with policy-makers may be an opportunity to present several messages in one sitting.
During the meeting, you can focus on one message at a time, offering supporting data,
answering questions, and asking for specific action. When you leave, you can distribute printed
background materials to remind them of the key points of your visit.
Whatever your medium, try to present the fewest messages possible needed to get your point
across. Highlight, repeat, and reiterate these messages throughout the material, using graphics,
photos, and—for video—moving images to drive your point home.
D. What’s “The Ask?”
One important thing to remember when developing your message(s) is what’s called the ask.
The ask is what compels people to take action. The action may be passive—for example,
“appreciate your volunteer vaccinators”—or active, for example “take your child to be
immunized!” Whatever it is you want your audience to do, state it as explicitly as possible in
your materials.
E. What Makes a Message Effective?
Perhaps the best way to learn about developing messages is through politics. Watch any political
campaign on television, and you’ll begin to hear the same points driven home again and
again—for example, “I will create more jobs!” Messages are often emotionally appealing, hardhitting,
fact-driven, and brief. When messages are crafted effectively, they are repeated in
subsequent newspaper headlines, television news programs, and radio reports. In short, they’re
remembered.
To craft an effective message, follow these steps:
• Analyze and Determine Needs. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with your
intended audience will reveal their informational needs. Perhaps they need a simple
reminder each month to visit a health clinic. Or maybe they need to learn more about
the prevalence of a particular disease. Each key message should address one particular
informational need.
• Determine the Ask. Ultimately, what do you want your audience to do, feel, or say? Be
specific. It’s one thing to tell mothers that many children are not fully immunized. It’s another
to tell them their child may not be safe. An effective message might be, for example, “Is
your child safe from all preventable diseases? Visit a free clinic this Sunday and get her
immunized.”
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