The comms blog

Communication lessons

It’s all in the timing

There are many areas of life where timing is all important. Communication is one of them. This is something that anyone who has ever had to talk to their boss about a difficult project knows very well. Or if you’ve had to persuade a 2-year-old to put their socks on! Cycles of work Working in … Read more

Guest blog: What to do when leaders don’t listen

This month, internal communications consultant, Martin Flegg, shares his advice for getting your voice heard by the leaders in your organisation. If you like what he has to say, you might also like to join him and many other internal communicators at the ‘Changing the Conversation’ conference – details at the end of his piece. … Read more

An exercise in audience understanding

Effective communication is based on audience understanding. To build connections, communicate messages and listen to others, you need to understand them. 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 communications planning workshops, I often set attendees an … Read more

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. … Read more

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 … Read more

How to handle CAVE dwellers

Every organisation has its CAVE dwellers. You know, those people who greet every new initiative, improved process or attempt to build excitement with snorts of derision. “We have seen it all before!” “What a lot of tosh!” “That will never work here.” They are, in short, Constantly Against Virtually Everything. CAVE dwellers. I first came … Read more

The story of a hot-desk and other ideas

Earlier this week I facilitated table discussions at the CharityComms Internal Communications Special Interest Group. The topic was story-telling and we heard from a range of speakers, giving us first a framework for stories and then real-life examples from charities St John Ambulance, Mencap, World Animal Protection and Scope, who have used story-telling to engage … Read more

Guest post: comms lessons from an 11-year-old

Thanks to the Easter school holidays I’ve spent much of the last couple of weeks hanging out with my daughter. Like many 11-year-olds she’s very wise and tells it like it is, so I interviewed her about her views on communication for this month’s guest slot. Listening to young people more is something we should … Read more

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 … Read more