Communication Design: Why Format Is Your Real Leadership Problem

Learn how to redesign internal communication so your people actually absorb, retain, and act on the information you're sending them. Most leaders communicate constantly and still find their teams don't know what's happening. The problem is rarely effort or intent; it's design. When the format doesn't match how people learn, the message doesn't land, no matter how clearly it's written. This episode makes the case for a deliberate, tiered multimedia communication strategy, grounded in cognitive science and the practical reality of busy organisations managing fast-moving change. Lee covers the three-tier framework (awareness, understanding, reference), addresses the short-form video debate directly, and challenges the assumption that professional communication has to be formal and written to be credible. CHAPTERS00:00:00: Why your communication isn't landing00:01:10: The case for multimedia communication strategy00:03:25: Research on communication channel misalignment00:05:05: How people actually absorb information (Mayer's cognitive load research)00:08:10: The three-tier framework: awareness, understanding, reference00:11:20: The TikTok attention span objection, answered00:14:25: How to build this strategy in your organisation00:17:05: From broadcast to design: the real shift RESOURCES MENTIONEDHarvard Business Review research: Finding that 38% of employees report excessive communication volume in their organisations2025 doctoral study on hyper-communication: Surveyed 600+ employees; identified communication channel misalignment as the strongest predictor of workplace distractionRichard Mayer's multimedia learning research: Cognitive scientist whose work underpins dual-channel learning theory and cognitive load2025 systematic review and meta-analysis (71 studies, ~100,000 participants): Found associations between heavy short-form video use and reduced attentionEnhanced Leadership by Lee Whitmore: Referenced throughout; available at whitmorelee.com/enhancedleadership KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR LEADERSAudit your last major change: count how many formats you used and whether each was chosen for the audience or for your own convenienceUse short-form video (60 to 90 seconds) for awareness; reserve documents for reference and governance, not initial communicationTreat internal communication as a design discipline, not an operational defaultModel the format yourself: senior leaders recording direct-to-camera updates normalises the approach across the organisationBuild feedback loops into your communication strategy, not just broadcast mechanisms KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR COACHESAsk clients: 'When did you last choose a communication format based on your audience rather than your habit?'Use the three-tier framework (awareness, understanding, reference) as a diagnostic tool in communication auditsExplore where communication channel misalignment is creating invisible friction in a client's change programmePrompt reflection: 'Who in your team is a sharp thinker but disengaged because your default formats don't suit how they learn?' Thank you for watching/ listening.#ad Editing my podcast used to be the most time-consuming part of my week. I now use Descript to edit my audio and video by simply deleting words from a transcript. It allows me to create my YouTube Shorts and TikTok clips in a fraction of the time.If you want to try it for your own projects, you can sign up here: https://get.descript.com/LevelUpUsing this link costs you nothing extra, but the small commission I receive helps support the work I do on my podcast and articles. Paid plans start at around £12 / $16 per month (billed annually) for the Hobbyist tier. © 2026 LevelUp.This episode is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/