LMG PUBLIC RELATIONS LLC
Has this happened to your organization?
If you can relate to the above sequence of events, sorry and congrats. You've lived through crisis and understand the communications derailment chain. Once it starts rolling, it's hard to stop. If you can't relate, also congrats for avoiding the comms derailment chain. But here's the truth: Eventually your good luck will run out. How do we avoid this disastrous chain of events in the first place? Well, the first step is preparation. Preparation involves building a rock solid communications strategy for before and during the crisis so when derailment starts happening, you can stop it in its tracks. I often educate clients on ways to build that strategy which includes a solid foundation of messaging and education that must be built in between crises and change. Staying on track and moving forward with your communications planning takes time and effort. But the prep you do today will prevent the disastrous derailment chain tomorrow. If you need help with building a solid comms strategy to meet your organization's specific needs, we're here. Contact us today!
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Who wouldn’t love super hearing? The ability to listen in to others’ conversations, to be in the know about the latest gossip. Sounds appealing in a decadent voyeuristic way. Superman used his power of super hearing for the good. But hearing is different from listening. And, in the world of communications, the superpower of listening is everything. If you’re a good listener, your communications will be more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall crises in a single bound (I had to do it).
But what makes a good listener? If you’re a communications leader in your organization or just looking to harness your superpower listening skills within your agency, below are three tips to get you started:
For more communications strategies, tips, and tactics, check out my latest blog posts on this site and on Instagram at @lmgpublicrelations. Storytelling involves trust inside an organization, but this can be one of the hardest things to accomplish. Employees need to be able to trust you enough to share the emotional aspects of their work. The more trust staff has with you, the more compelling the stories shared. The following are three points to consider when building internal trust within your agency:
1. Engage all levels in the process. Make staff feel vested. Work from the bottom up and engage all levels. Listen to all of the voices and give them a task in the campaign. Help staff see themselves as "ambassadors" of the department message. 2. Explain how it will benefit them. Everyone wants to know what's in it for them. For instance, will strengthening the internal and external agency image make their work easier? Will it create more federal funding and donations for needed services? Will it increase morale thereby decreasing staff turnover? All of these benefits should be backed up with relevant data showing the far-reaching benefit of an effective storytelling campaign. 3. Take your time. Building trust is a process and doesn't happen overnight. Start by pitching out a few positive media stories and letting them take hold. Build on this goodwill to demonstrate the power of positive stories. Share examples of the stories you gather, so staff has a sense of what they should be looking for in their daily work. Once upon a time there was a strange and mysterious village. It stood isolated atop a large hill. It seemed scary, aloof, and detached from the rest of the kingdom.
But within this village was a magical place. It was a land full of possibility and service. It believed in redemption. Its work changed people’s lives. This land’s influence in the overall kingdom was vast and far-reaching and its mayor and villagers were hardworking. But nobody had heard of this strange and mysterious land. Nobody in the kingdom knew that the help they were receiving was because of this mysterious land. Why? Because the mayor and the villagers never talked about it. Does this fairytale sound like your organization? You do good work that could benefit the community, and nobody knows about it? If yes, then you need to bring your org back into reality through a communications plan that is rooted in storytelling and anchored with key messages. A good comms plan goes beyond branding or a slogan. It involves how your leadership, employees, and community partners talk about yourselves and the work you do. Using very specific, unifying, and powerful language to communicate about your values and work can serve as a safe harbor in times of crisis and help shape public policy to benefit your community. Here are some questions to ask yourself: • If a stranger asks you what your work involves, could you describe it in one sentence, using simple language without using your job title or agency name? • If you had 30 seconds in an elevator and a stranger asked what you do, could you describe it in an impactful way they would really understand? • Could you tell me what you do without telling me what your job is? • Would everyone in your organization say the same thing? If you answered no to any or all these questions, consider developing a comms plan that includes effective messaging about your org and the community it serves. |
AuthorLouise Grasmehr Archives
May 2023
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