Just one thing
How to make communications stick
I hope you had a lovely summer and were able to enjoy the glorious weather we had for much of it. It definitely feels like autumn arrived overnight and is here to stay now.
I’ve been a bit quiet with these emails for a few months, as I was working in-house on an interim contract and then juggling school holidays. But I’m back now, so should be landing in your inbox regularly again!
While I’ve been away, I’ve been consciously trying to read more books. This is partly wanting to spend less time with my phone, but also because I think it’s really good for our brains to engage with long-form content that goes deeply into ideas, whether that’s fiction or non-fiction.
This summer I re-read Made To Stick by Chip and Dan Heath.
For anyone not familiar, it’s a classic text for every marketing and communications professional. It looks at what makes some messages “stick” – what makes some stories memorable and resonant.
If you work in marketing or comms then it’s a must-read classic. I first read it about fifteen years ago and I loved it. But I haven’t picked it up again since.
When I did, I realised how ingrained so much of its advice has been in my work ever since – not just in marketing, but also in internal and stakeholder communication.
The number one takeaway is: Keep it simple.
It sounds easy. Simple, in fact! But it can be surprisingly tricky.
To communicate effectively you have to identify and stick to the core of what you want to get across.
One message at a time. Focus on making that land and you can work on the detail afterwards.
Put yourself in the position of your audience. We are all overwhelmed with information all the time. What a relief it is when someone can tell us what it is we really need to know. How much more likely are we to pay attention to that rather than more noise?
The best communications campaign get this.
Medical charities know people will give money to fund research to find a cure. The vast majority don’t care about how the research works. Homeless charities know their donors want to help get people off the streets. Most aren’t interested in the complex theory of change that sits behind the support services.
If I was marketing a shampoo, is it more important that it makes my hair clean and soft, or that it’s made of natural ingredients, or that it smells nice? All three might matter, but you can really only get across one message at a time. There’s a choice to be made about what matters most to your audience.
When you’re communicating strategy or change this is actually a little bit easier.
What will matter most to your audience is the impact it will make. Make sure they know this and the project plan and KPIs can come later.
I once watched a charity CEO present their new 5-year strategy to staff. It was an intelligent, well thought through plan - with five pillars for growth and detailed analysis of resource, investment and organisational impact.
But nobody looked particularly excited.
And in every meeting I had over the next few months, people were struggling to recall the details, or understand what the work meant to them.
At absolutely no point did the CEO say: “we are going to help more children get the support they need.”
The key message is the one thing you need your audience to leave your conversation remembering - the one thing that will persuade them to do what you need them to do.
It’s always tempting to say more, or to add more detail to prove you know what you’re talking about, or because it feels like it strengthens your point. But in reality, too much information just muddies the waters.
When it comes to communicating clearly, less is often more.
Work with me
It’s the new (school) year so I have some new notebooks and a new planner waiting to be filled! I have capacity at the moment to take on new coaching clients.
I specialise in working with senior leaders, providing a safe space to explore the challenges of their role.
I've worked with individuals to:
Establish themselves in a new role
Manage difficult working relationships
Build their confidence and profile as a leader
Plan and implement change
You can read some testimonials here.
If any of this is of interest, or if you're looking for something along similar lines, just drop me line. I'm always happy to have a no-obligation chat.
I’m also available for consultancy or facilitation gigs. Have a look at my website for more info.