Most of us will have been at a function, and asked someone “what do you do?”

“I do many things,” the reply.

“You do many things and therefore nothing,” you tell yourself in your own mind, and instantly detune your listening.

Now, it may indeed be the case that a business does do many things. But, because we invariably only have one bite of the ‘what do you do’ cherry, you’d better make damn sure that your single message is exactly on point.

Refining your own business story down to that single message is a challenge – after all, no one likes killing their darlings (or other potential messages).

But it’s not killing them. They can and should appear later as support and reinforcement for the one idea that someone initially reads on your website, or hears when you speak.

However, no one should ever underestimate how extremely difficult it is for business owners and employees to unearth this single story on their own.

A dispassionate foil, a reflective listener with an ear for language and a flair with words is your best bet to help you extract the 2 – 10+ words that reflect your purpose and reason (for others to give a toss).

So, to find the message that really matters to you, find someone who cares…but not too much, and together you’ll refine that story to a single blindingly clear ‘aha’ for any listener.

(And you’ll never be caught saying “we do many things”!)