All posts by Sebastian

Let’s all write like it’s 1984…

Talking to your customers, Talking to your employees, Writing

Good writing should, quite literally, be quite simple. So why, as we often see,  the temptation to over elaborate? Or, to put it another way, why do we succumb to verbosity as a means of conveying our meaning? (Can you see what I did there?)

George Orwell says a scrupulous writer should always ask ‘ could I put it more shortly’?

iStock_000000251967Medium
So here, courtesy of Orwell himself, are his five great writing tips:

 

(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

(ii) Never use a long word where a short one will do.

(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

(iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active.

(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

 

How great leaders communicate

Communicating in a crisis, Talking to your customers, Talking to your employees

There’s nothing like an ambitious title for a blog and this one feels right up there along with 300 odd words on ‘How to do nuclear fusion’. But, here goes.

When you think about great historical figures who communicate well people like Churchill come to mind. A nice turn of phrase, consistent messaging, positive reinforcement, presence, and no little preparation resulted in a reputation as a great orator – though, interestingly, no one remembers his alleged struggles to overcome a speech impediment. Historians are divided as to whether he had a lisp, stuttered or simply liked a ‘loaded pause’.

Today’s leaders have it harder than he did in many ways given the number of communications channels they can use there and the expectation of delivering more. Some leaders, for good or ill, thrive on the immediacy of Twitter for example – dear departed Trump – while others are probably blissfully unaware as to what goes out under their name.

once upon a time

I want to communicate
What never changes though are the leaders – and I’m moving on to include business leaders and managers here – who are really good at communicating do it naturally. They have a distinctive voice; take every opportunity to communicate; are authentic (you can believe that what they’re saying is from them and represents their values); use wit and humour when appropriate; and take advice and feedback from those around them to improve. Probably most important though is their desire to communicate; they genuinely want to do it. Try media training someone who has no desire to talk to the media. It can be very painful.

For those who aren’t natural communicators, communication is a tougher job but no one says they need to be great orators. If they follow the same rules that come more naturally to the good communicator then why shouldn’t a bad communicator become a good communicator? And surely it’s worth the effort. For CEOs or senior managers, I would have said it’s probably the most important part of their job.

Easy enough? Now about fusing together those pesky light nuclei…

Is your company ‘jumping the shark’?

Content marketing, Talking to your customers, Talking to your employees, Writing

A bit late in the day, I’ve recently come across the phrase ‘jump the shark’ – so called after the episode in TV’s Happy Days (younger readers ask your older colleagues) when the Fonz literally jumps over a shark on water skis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4ZGKI8vpcg

This was the sad point when Happy Days had passed its best and the script writers started to resort to the ludicrous to mask a general decline in script quality. My own personal ‘jump the shark’ favourite would probably be Bobby Ewing ‘resurfacing’ in the shower in Dallas. But there are numerous others to while away your next coffee break.

Is your business jumping the shark?
Businesses too go through their own ‘jump the shark’ moments when particular initiatives pop-up that should probably have been resigned to the cutting room floor. As communications professionals, we’re often called upon to communicate these initiatives or work on the best way to communicate corporate messages that have a distinctly ‘sharky’ whiff about them.

As painful as it can be, it’s our job to call out those ‘jump the shark’ moments that are often lost in the echo chamber of corporate life. Failure to do so can mean anything but a happy day.

And it’s goodbye from me…

Uncategorized

How do you sign-off your email? And, why does it matter?

I’ve noticed recently that my preferred ‘kind regards’ seems to have fallen out of favour – according to this post from Mashable, ‘regards’ or ‘best regards’ only work for Victorian ghosts –  and my use of ‘cheers’ (when I know the lucky recipient of my email a bit better and have loosened my metaphorical tie) should be consigned to the same box where I keep my old tartan lined Harrington jacket and Complete Madness tape.

It seems that ‘thanks’ has become a more common sign-off – even when the writer has nothing to be particularly thankful for.

Of course, it does matter how you sign off your email but it doesn’t hurt to be flexible. Like any communication, you should perhaps think about how you tailor it for your audience rather than rigidly sticking to your usual method. There’s a bit of ‘mirroring’ psychology of in all this and adapting to the intended recipient’s style rather than slavishly sticking to your usual sign-off. Try and experiment with a few different sign-offs and see if anyone notices.

So, farewell then, (too much?). Back at ya (worse!). All the best (better)

Why not go ‘off grid’ with your communications?

Talking to your employees

There’s something very appealing to me about going ‘off-grid’. Of course ‘off-grid’ means different things to different people. For some it just about sticking some solar panels up on the roof, while others go the whole hog; farm a small holding, install some compostable toilets, dig a borehole for their own water supply…

IMG_1586[1]Kicking away the crutches of modern life’s conveniences – or inconveniences depending on how you see them – can be quite inspiring. So what if you can carry through the same ‘Good Life’ approach for communicating to your fellow employees?

 

 

The law of diminishing communications returns
“The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate…” said Joseph Priestley. And he has something there if you think about how technology dominates how we communicate. In effect, the online tools at our fingertips, while very powerful, can risk making our communications increasingly ineffective. It’s the law of diminishing communications returns. The more you do of it, the less people listen to it.

What if you abandon the corporate intranet, do away with email, text messaging, instant messaging, and any other social tool like Yammer, and decide to do a little ‘off grid’ communication? Dig out your pre-online age communications toolbox and have a rummage and see what you can find:

Where
Not everyone can hangout online all the time; have a think about where your fellow employees physically hangout at work;

  • Reception areas
  • Kitchen/drinks areas
  • Lifts
  • WCs
  • Meeting areas
  • And of course, at their desks.

How
Now think about how you can use those areas;

  • Talk to each other…there’s an idea. What forums exist to promote ‘talking’? How are those regular soapbox presentations going? Email free hour? Team meetings, road shows…
  • Deskdrop – one guaranteed way of getting everyone’s attention for those really big announcements. Send a letter…in an envelope…addressed by hand…
  • Notice boards – not just one way communication; use a whiteboard and ask questions. You’ll get responses.
  • The rumour mill – great for finding out stuff but think how can you use it to push messages too.
  • Guerrilla tactics – how can you hi-jack existing ‘offline’ communications. Staff get a Christmas gift every year? A great opportunity to communicate . Or at the Christmas party…
  • Posters – people love pictures, so how can a series of posters help your internal comms campaign?
  • Newsletters – don’t underestimate the power of the hardcopy newsletter. Could be a one-off related to a particular event for example.

Let’s offroad!
Set yourself the challenge of running a communications project that’s entirely ‘off-grid’. You might be surprised at how successful it can be when you abandon online tools.

Mind you, the compostable toilets are still a terrible idea.