Effective communication is based on audience understanding. To build connections, communicate messages and listen to others, you need to understand them. What are they interested in? What motivates them? What have their experiences been? With this knowledge you can plan communications that are meaningful and move towards achieving your organisation’s objectives. Put yourself in their shoes When I run my …
Guest post: Content that encourages action
In this month’s guest post, my fellow communications professional, Amy Hutson, shares some top tips for ensuring that your content works hard and encourages your audience to do something as a result. While writing might be something we do every day, writing content that encourages our audience to take action can be quite a challenge. So, I’ve put together a …
4 Communication Lessons from the Football World Cup
Football fever has struck the Browning household again with the kick-off of the women’s World Cup in France. Watching the Lionesses play their first match from the stands in Nice, I was reminded once more of the importance of good (and bad) communication in determining the final score. Here are a few observations I wrote during the men’s world cup …
5 great ways to improve case-study gathering
During a session on engaging content at a recent conference, the speaker talked about how to gather a case-study. Whatever your organisation does, you will have great stories of the work you do and the difference you make: used well, these will have a powerful effect on your intended audiences. But before you can start using those stories to achieve …
What is effective communication?
I often talk about ‘effective communication’ in my presentations, comms strategy conversations and training workshops. But what does that phrase actually mean? A good friend asked me this question after reviewing some text for me. And I thought ‘If Pat wants to know what effective communication is, then other people will probably be wondering the same thing’. Simply put, I believe …