By Charlie Pryor
We are living in unprecedented times, and this calls for unique action. Companies have been faced with difficult decisions and everyone will have to adapt to the new normal. A great deal has been learnt about communicating during this pandemic, either from mistakes made or through good practices.
So, what makes a good communicator? Their first job is to get a clear message across, without relying on their audience needing to interpret it. In fact, the most important word here is ‘audience’ . If you’re addressing a symposium of software engineers then it is expected that you will need to use technical language to explain complex ideas. However, if you are speaking to a group of people who have never studied science, then plain English is a must.
A good communicator also needs to provide a balanced story. Aristotle’s focus on logos, ethos and pathos still provides the ingredients for the perfect story. Logos is the appeal to logic, pathos is the emotional appeal, and ethos is about the author's credibility. A good communicator needs to bring together facts and data with human examples, like storytelling. Although I agree very few could have planned for a crisis such as Corona, planning is still everything, and a speaker should plan what they are going to say before they say it. Be prepared.
Once the message has been decided, you need to focus on how to spread the word. If you are addressing people live on television or in a big group which may or may not reach the press, always have a press release ready, so you are not caught on the back foot. There are many avenues for reaching your audiences. Organisations can choose to do this digitally, via social media, webinars or live streaming. Direct Marketing is a well-worn and traditional method, which is targeted and usually involves a specific piece of correspondence going through the door or leafleting in a public space. Or perhaps you use a combination of the two. The answer will largely depend on the budget and the skill-sets you have available, as well as the nature of your message and your audience.
But there is one channel missing from that list. Although often seen as the poor relation of communications, internal communications have never been more important than they are right now. Without staff, no company has a hope of getting through this Pandemic and then recovering. Companies are going to need to rebuild. And that can only happen with willing and engaged employees. Employees can be your best and your worst ambassadors. But internal communications can often get left behind because, as opposed to product communications, they aren’t directly linked to revenue generation. Look after your staff, encourage them, nurture them, and empower them. You may rarely have all-staff meetings but now is the time to increase them, go digital. Make sure employees know about the state of the company, what plans you have and the role they will play in implementing them. Staff meetings also provide people with a forum to simply chat and share concerns with colleagues who are going through the same thing. The way a company or organisation communicates is closely linked to the way it is run and often reflects the personality of the senior leadership team. So right now is a crucial time to think hard about what you’re saying, how you’re saying it and, most importantly, who you’re saying it to. If implemented correctly, you may just get the answers you are looking for.
Charlie Pryor
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