We all tell stories naturally that illustrate who we are as a person, what we do, and what we believe in. Think of your last conversation with a friend, someone in your family, or a neighbor at a barbeque. “Once upon a time” (or a spin on that) is an everyday, multiple-times-a-day occurrence.
Yet at work, something happens when we “badge in” at our organizations. Stories get lost, and pie charts and copy-heavy slides take over.
Tags: Leadership Communication, Internal Communication, Storytelling
For leaders in today’s business world, effective communication is a differentiator. With so much information flying around from so many places, the ability to ensure you’re understood and employees are prepared to take action on your path forward is critical to your individual and organizational success.
And yet time and time again I’ve heard the excuse, “Communicating effectively is too tough.”
Tags: Communication Skills, Storytelling
I heard an interesting comparison recently. When you see people on the street talking to themselves, they are often classified as “insane.” Yet what do we call it when we talk to ourselves inside organizations? “Marketing or communications.”
Tags: Employee Engagement, Communication Skills, Storytelling
You’ve drafted an email or remarks to share at an upcoming team meeting and are ready to hit send or present, respectively. How do you know that you haven’t made the most common messaging blunders?
See whether creating a clear and compelling communication is as simple as cleaning up your own act.
Here are 5 messaging blunders to avoid in your communications:
Tags: Communication Skills, Storytelling
I recently had a parent-teacher conference about my youngest daughter, Noa, with her kindergarten teacher who’s a rock star. We were talking about how Noa’s very capable overall, and is a child who does things when she’s ready, and on her terms. “Her terms” is the key phrase, which Steve and I wholeheartedly support.
Read MoreTags: Storytelling
It’s been said that if you don’t toot your own horn, then you can’t complain when there’s no music. A bit blunt perhaps, but very true, and applicable today more than ever in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR).
On the surface, CSR is comprised of the efforts and initiatives a company takes to assess and hold responsibility for its impact on the environment and social wellbeing at large.
Read MoreTags: Communication Skills, Storytelling
To be best-in-class we must think about standard operating procedures. That’s one of the commonalities we see with our clients who are taking a lead globally in the communications arena.
In advertising and communications, effective frequency is the number of times a person must be exposed to a message before a response is made. Theories have ranged from three to twenty times, leading to countless spirited discussions amongst academics and practitioners alike looking to identify the magic number.
Whatever the answer, and it varies by person, the fact remains that recipients of a message can only retain a limited amount of information per exposure and it often takes someone hearing a message multiple times to transition that person from awareness to understanding, and finally, to action.
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There are countless ways to ensure that a message hits home the way you intended. Here are 5 must-do strategies to cut through the clutter and turn messages into meaning:
Tags: Communication Skills, Leadership Effectiveness & Planning, Storytelling
Company “profiles” are everywhere today – on corporate websites, in job postings, and on social media sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook. With one click of the “About Us” link, anyone, anywhere can hear your company story.
So why are so many stories and profiles so weak, so boring and uninspired?
If this is one of the best shots at telling a company story, why do countless organizations settle for a poorly written, poorly designed, dry-as-dust blurb?
Read MoreTags: Guest Bloggers, Storytelling
