Making It Easy: Choice Reads for Communicating Better

In honour of the special session at the BIG Difference 2023 Conference, “Using Behavioural Insights to Improve How We Communicate”, enjoy this expanded Choice Reads selection that focuses on communication.

By Stephanie Wilkie
Knowledge Translation Strategist,
BC Behavioural Insights Group

With my role as knowledge translation strategist for the BC Behavioural Insights Group, I’m keenly interested in making communications that are behaviourally informed. Whether translating my team’s trial results, composing the BIG Difference BC monthly newsletter, or facilitating training, I use behavioural insights to communicate effectively. One of the best tips I’ve heard lately is from Todd Rogers (co-author of Writing for Busy Readers):

“Make [your writing] easy for the reader because it’s more effective, it’s kinder, it’s more inclusive. So, when we are writing, write to clarify thinking, write to convey all the key info we want, and then have a final round of edits where we’re like, ‘How do I make it easier for the reader?’” (source)

Communicating is what we all do nearly 24/7 without even noticing. How we communicate is not only a tool but also our interface with the world outside of our heads. With communicating being such a fundamental human behaviour, you can bet many behavioural insights experts have focused on it. That focus has resulted in a slew of insights about how human brains understand and are motivated to take action.

Below is a selection of the resources I’ve found I regularly refer back to in my work. I hope that they can also help you optimize your communications in a variety of mediums!


Toolkits and Guides

Books

Studies and Articles

Podcasts