Effective communication

Effective communication is the result of a deliberate strategy, and training and education in the profession is a key to achieving success to its fullest extent. The risks can be high, but the rewards are also high. There is no satisfaction quite like that of seeing the positive results of your efforts in print or on the air, or watching your Sailors act on new Navy policy because they understand it.

But communication success is certainly not easy, and cannot be expected with one attempt.

Some communications researchers claim that it takes "seven touches" for a concept to be successfully communicated. People must hear it, see it, feel it, pick it up, turn it upside down, shake it and hear it again before they’ll remember anything substantial about it. We need more than a deliberate strategy; we need persistent presence on the communication front.

Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations in the 2008 Navy Playbook