Now it's time to think about how best to structure the way you actually share the information with the other party. The good news here is that there is still only one number you need to remember €“ three.

Breaking your message down into three well-defined parts will help the receiver take in all of its contents, including the middle €“ the part that often gets forgotten. The other key way of getting your message across is to summarise its components throughout to ensure that it has the best chance of sticking in the other person's memory. Again this will probably feel a little uncomfortable or over the top when you first do this, but it will become more comfortable with practice.

Providing a summary also tells your audience that you've come to the end of a section, which helps them to organise their own thoughts. It also gives them a natural opportunity to ask any questions they may have about what you've covered so far instead of having to wait until the end, by which time they may have forgotten exactly what they were going to ask. You want them to go away with a clear message, and this is proven to be a tried and tested way of getting information across to others effectively.

The template in the communication planning chart provides a framework to help you do this. You can see that the sequences of steps are listed down the left hand side and they are not in order. This is deliberate: it encourages you to focus initially on your audience, clarify the subject or topic for communication and establish the specific actions required.