A simple framework to help you cut through the noise and create messaging that resonates with your audience.

Let’s talk about a pervasive issue in mission-driven programs — I call it the “Wall of Text.”

Long, dense paragraphs, with sentences spanning four lines. Slides packed from top to bottom with words and figures. Webpages that try to pack everything the organization has ever done onto the homepage. Not to mention the alphabet soup of acronyms peppering every page.

The impacts our organizations achieve get lost in a sea of jargon and vague messaging.

We hope that our audience members will devour our every word. But the reality is that we only get their eyes and ears for a few moments — we must make use of that time. Your audience doesn’t have time or patience to translate complex language. With the fierce competition for attention in the modern world, unclear communication will lead people to ignore your important work.

While working on USAID programs, I witnessed the Wall of Text daily. That led me to develop the 4 ACES messaging framework: a simple checklist to make your messaging clear, compelling, and memorable.

The 4 ACES framework

4 quarters: Distill the big ideas

No one wants a pocket full of pennies when they could have four quarters. The same goes for communication. Your audience is looking for big ideas they can use, not hundreds of micro facts.

The human brain will typically only remember a few details from your content. What do you want your audience to take away? Make it easy for them. Identify your three or four most important points and focus on those.

Apply this principle in any kind of content. In a paragraph, reduce a grocery list of technical points to a few essential ones. On a website, narrow your navigation to only the most essential offerings. In a presentation, cut detail-packed slides into a focused sequence that emphasizes big ideas most relevant to your audience.

Audience-centered: Tune into WIFM radio

Whenever we open an email, read a webpage, or listen to a sales pitch, we all subconsciously ask: “What’s in it for me?” (WIFM) We’re too busy to spend time on things that don’t clearly connect to what matters to us — our goals, values, and frustrations.

Your audience is asking the WIFM question about your content. How does your work make their life better? Which problems does it help them solve?

The same program might have three target audiences with distinct needs. Donors want impact metrics. Community members want to know how to access benefits. Policy makers want comparative assessments of different programs.

To understand these needs, set up some interviews and talk to representatives of each group. Then reframe your messaging to speak to their respective interests.

Concrete: Paint a picture with words

When we look closely at the Wall of Text, we see its bricks: jargon, abstraction, and acronyms. However accurate your content might be, if it’s too dense and technical, your readers will be exhausted within a few paragraphs.

Concrete language takes them by the hand and shows them the world through your eyes. Specific examples and vivid details make it easier to follow along.

“The intervention resulted in enhanced agricultural productivity through regenerative, climate-smart NBS approaches” leaves readers dizzy from buzzwords. Compare that to “Farmers increased their yields by 30% after switching to drought-resistant maize.” The latter paints a clear picture with specific numbers and concrete actions.

Emotional: Say it again with feeling

After millions of years of evolution, the human brain developed lightning fast response time for threats and opportunities. The brain’s ability to make instant, life-or-death decisions kept our ancestors alive. This part of the brain links closely with our emotions. Fear, anger, desire, and other emotions drove our decisions for countless millennia.

In contrast, rational thinking evolved much later. Analysis and reason require attention, intention, and effort — and much more time for processing.

People will react emotionally to your content well before they attempt to assess it rationally. Your messaging needs to connect on some emotional level before people will invest the energy required for analytical thinking.

Does your message spark curiosity, inspire confidence, or relieve a pain point?

“The project improves water access through investments in updated WASH infrastructure” might be accurate but fails to make an emotional connection.

“Children in the village no longer spend hours walking to distant wells, instead spending their days in school” creates a powerful visual with emotional charge. People can envision kids walking long distances to collect water, contrasting that with a classroom full of children eagerly learning.

Simple: Use shorter and fewer words

Try this experiment: Call up one of your older aunts or uncles (or anyone, really, who knows nothing about your field) and explain your work to them. If they look confused, your message is too complex.
Some tips for simple and clear messages:

• Keep sentences short. One idea per sentence works well.
• Use everyday language, reducing jargon as much as possible.
• Question every acronym. Make sure it’s essential — or just spell it out.

“We provide comprehensive impact assessment solutions leveraging innovative frameworks to facilitate organizational performance optimization” is an exaggerated example, but it’s believable to actually come across something like this.

“We help nonprofits measure their impact. Our tools make it easy to uncover clear and actionable insights.” Short, direct statements like these require very little mental processing.

Putting it into practice

Ready to apply the framework? Start with some quick wins:

• Review your website homepage. Can you cut the word count by 50% while keeping the key points?
• Audit your email templates. Are you leading with what matters to your audience, or what matters to you?
• Test your elevator pitch. Record yourself explaining your work in 30 seconds. Would your aunt or uncle understand you?

The best messaging isn’t about sounding smart — it’s about being understood. Download the 4 ACES cheat sheet to keep these principles handy as you create your next presentation, grant proposal, or social media post.