From “sending information” to designing understanding
I’m a continuous learner. I believe that if you’re not learning, you’re stagnating—and that belief has shaped every stage of my career.
I started at State Farm in the systems department right out of college. My first job was loading tapes on second shift for data processing. From there I moved through multiple roles, eventually stepping into project leadership. After years of leading initiatives inside one organization, I left State Farm to see how other companies approached projects, communication, and change.
That journey led me to Deque. Working with a wide range of organizations gave me something I couldn’t see from the inside: communication succeeds or fails based on how well people understand what they’re being asked to do.
Moving into Deque’s training team taught me a critical lesson: training isn’t about presenting; it’s about instructional design.
Instructional design techniques do something project communication often doesn’t—they make the message clear, repeatable, and effective. They recognize that people learn differently. Some absorb information by reading. Others by listening. Others by doing. Others by watching.
How instructional design techniques improve project communication
Most project communication fails for a simple reason: we communicate the way we prefer—not the way others understand.
Instructional designers think differently. They never assume information alone creates clarity. They design communication so it’s absorbed, remembered, and applied.
When project leaders borrow these principles, communication stops being a stream of words and becomes a learning experience—one that people actually act on.
At the heart of this approach is a simple, effective cycle:
1. Teach — give readers and listeners structure
Teaching is about grounding people in the “what” and the “why.” This is where readers and listeners get what they need.
You answer questions like:
- What is changing?
- Why are we doing it now?
- Who will be impacted—and how?
- What outcomes are we aiming for?
This establishes a shared baseline and eliminates early confusion. It’s where readers get structure and context, and listeners get explanation and narrative.
2. Try — give doers a safe way to engage
Understanding deepens when people can interact with information. This is where doers come alive.
In project communication, “Try” can look like:
- A focused Q&A session where stakeholders can test assumptions.
- Sharing a draft user story map and asking teams to walk through it.
- Running a small, low-risk pilot or scenario before a wide rollout.
Trying turns communication into collaboration. People don’t just hear the message—they use it, and in the process, they help you refine it.
3. Show — give observers concrete demonstrations
Some people learn best by watching. For observers, seeing is understanding.
“Show” might be:
- A simple flow diagram or swimlane showing how work will move.
- A quick screen recording walking through a new behavior.
- Before-and-after examples of an accessible vs. inaccessible pattern.
Showing removes guesswork. It turns abstract ideas into something teams can point to and say: “That’s what we’re doing.”
4. Revise — close the loop with everyone
Communication is rarely one-and-done. Revision is where alignment becomes commitment, and where each learner type gets a final pass to confirm their understanding.
Revision ensures:
- Gaps are closed before they become issues.
- Misinterpretations are corrected early.
- Questions surface while there is still flexibility.
- Stakeholders feel ownership in the final direction.
This is where the message moves from “I sent it” to “We’re aligned.”
Aligning communication with how people actually learn
When you communicate using Teach → Try → Show → Revise, you naturally support different learning preferences:
Readers
Get structured explanations and written context they can revisit.
Listeners
Get spoken narratives, stories, and walkthroughs that make the change feel human.
Doers
Get working sessions, pilots, and exercises where they can apply the message.
Observers
Get demos, diagrams, and before/after views that make the work tangible.
The result is communication that people understand, remember, and repeat accurately—while reducing meeting churn, clarification messages, and rework.
The outcome: communication that drives action
When project communication incorporates instructional design techniques, it becomes:
- Clear — everyone interprets the message the same way.
- Repeatable — the structure works across teams and projects.
- Effective — people don’t just receive the message; they apply it.
This is the bridge between “I sent the email” and “The work moved forward.” Instructional design gives project leaders a practical, humane way to communicate change in environments where stakes are high and attention is limited.
How this insight supports different learners
R Readers
Strong headings, clear sequence, and written breakdown of each stage.
L Listeners
Career narrative and real-world scenarios that can be retold in meetings.
D Doers
The Teach → Try → Show → Revise cycle as a repeatable framework to apply.
O Observers
Concrete examples of what each stage looks like in project life.