When I was a kid, we had a piano in the house. It was an attractive piece of furniture in our family room. I say that, cause no one in our family knew how to play it (beyond say, “Chopsticks”).

But (for reasons which still elude me), we once had it professionally tuned. Now, I’d seen pianos being tuned before. It’s done electronically with a device that analyzes each note and indicates whether it’s flat or sharp. But the guy who tuned our piano had no device — cause he was totally blind.

Think about it. A blind piano tuner (watch the video). Born without sight, this guy’s hearing was so super-sensitive, he could immediately detect the slightest imperfection in each note, and adjust it back to pitch-perfect just by listening.

To him, an out-of-tune note is like a physical discomfort, and he’s the doctor who relieves patients of their pain.

In some ways, that’s what we communicators do. Only not with musical notes, but rather, with words. When we hear something that’s not right — we just know. It gets under our skin, and makes us uncomfortable. In some cases, it triggers our gag reflex and makes us wanna lose our lunch. And we’ve gotta fix it. Read More »

Too often communicators create one version of every message and cascade it in multiple global markets. Efficient? Perhaps. Effective? No.

Every message isn’t relevant to every market, and when audiences continuously receive communications that don’t resonate with them, they stop listening and end up missing out on important, applicable messages in the mix.

You can help communicators overcome this by equipping them with tools to enable them to customize messages to resonate locally.

We’ve recently learned about one tool in particular that can help companies figure out which messages they want to prioritize, by timing their delivery based on the target audience’s receptivity. Communications teams can use a set of questions applying to the following steps to guard against over-communication:

• Step 1: Auditing your existing message mix
• Step 2: Assessing your message mix
• Step 3: Understanding local priorities
• Step 4: Adjusting your message mix

CEC members, access the complete set of questions to help you time your messages to maximize audience receptivity. Read More »

As is smart, today’s communicators are increasingly focused less on crafting messages and more on enabling communication across the organization. Core activities include coaching leaders to communicate more effectively, enabling employees to participate in social media, inviting stories and testimonials customers, and looking for opportunities to more closely align with the needs of the business. While the function evolves dramatically, one core still remains ever critical: writing.

Good writing, however, is no longer about perfect grammar or storytelling—good writing today is about prompting audience action.

As the CEC looks to support its members’ continued development across the core 16 communications competencies, we have explored what proficiency in writing looks like in today’s environment. Last week, we had the opportunity to preview a new Writing for Impact Workshop with the Communications team at W.W. Grainger. Our session focused on clarifying the one key engagement idea that solidifies for readers why they should care and would want to take action.

Our peers in Marketing believe that a simple, memorable advertising slogan can drive a campaign’s success. In Communications, however, a simple, catchy, and consistent message won’t do the trick–we aren’t typically talking about the coolest new consumer product. Our aim then must be to create messages that emphasize our shared values with our audience and clarify the desired action of our audiences.

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By Rebecca Canan

This is the second in a two-part series about corporate translation services.  This post offers insight into how communicators are assessing translation vendors to ensure a good fit with company needs. The first post outlined the primary options for translation services (e.g., in-house, free lancer, vendor, etc).

If you’re like other CEC members, you opened up a phone book (or more likely, did a quick Google search) to identify a company that could translate your organization’s communications.   However, due to global expansion in new markets, you may be facing increased (and quicker) demands for translated company content.  How can you ensure that you’re partnering with the best vendor for your needs?  One of your peers recently asked a question in a CEC discussion forum, requesting advice on translation services.  Aside from assessing a vendor’s language capabilities and costs, here are other factors your peers recommend considering: Read More »

Thanks for the comments and notes about our utility industry blog within a blog.  I appreciate the individual e-mails and encourage folks to use the comments as a source of ongoing conversation as well.  One of the common threads to your feedback was the complexity of messages involved in your space.  Indeed, when I review the questions that come to the Council from our utility members, we are confronted with difficult issues such as rate increases, renewable energy vs. clean coal generation, a massively complex energy bill (at least temporarily stalled in Congress), and regional economic development packages.   To make life even harder, utility communicators must simultaneously address both low-information residents and high-information advocacy groups or legislative committee staff members.  In other words: It’s Complicated!  Read More »

I just got back from a glorious ten days in Croatia (which by the way, I would HIGHLY recommend– totally beautiful and so far, unspoiled) and now that I’m back, I am noticing more than ever the constant bombardment of information, emails, & instant messages that distract me from doing any true thinking.  Matt Richtel has coined the term the “three-day effect” when you are away from all technology and distraction.  After three days you start to relax, sleep better, and lose that nervous twitch of checking your blackberry every 3 seconds.  This is probably why the average weekend just doesn’t feel long enough; you get close to relaxing and then get pulled back to reality with a thump.

The New York Times reports that the average computer user checks 40 websites a day and can switch programs 36 times per hour.  Think of what that means in terms of how much information that you are subjecting yourself to on a daily basis.  It’s no wonder we hear, “I haven’t had time to think” so often.  It is only when you actually stop reading and taking in new information that you can sit back and really think what it all means, and actually process it.  By constantly rushing from one idea to the next without giving ourselves the time to think, we aren’t giving ourselves time to know what we really think.  I’m probably not the only one who sits there and has revelations when I’m on holiday.  You realize opinions you never knew you had.  You make life-changing decisions (or at least come up with the ideas for them).  In short, you think.

So as companies are striving to add more channels to reach their employees from all angles– are we actually doing more harm than good?  Read More »

By Laura Newman

I am embarrassed to say that I watched “Out of Africa” for the first time just a few days ago. There’s no doubt I have a soft spot in my heart for Africa—I’ve spent close to a combined three months in Uganda and Kenya, I was in South Africa  for the World Cup two weeks ago (it’s Ayoba time!), and I’ve even visited the Nairobi farm of Karen Blixen, the author of “Out of Africa.” But I’d never gotten around to actually watch Meryl Streep fall in love with Robert Redford in the film.

When I finally curled up on the couch to watch it in my London flat last Monday, I was swept away by the beautiful scenery and passionate romance. But I was also encapsulated by another aspect of the movie—the importance of storytelling.

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By Evelyn Ostrovsky 

Did you know that Celine Dion is the youngest of 14 children?
Did you know that Justin Bieber likes white toast more than wheat?
Did you know your stakeholders don’t care about the same things you do?

If the CEC had a MTV Diary episode (motto: “You think you know…but you have no idea”), you’d probably be surprised by the look inside our yearly quantitative findings.

As most of you are aware of by now (being loyal readers of the CEC Insider), we’re in the middle of our biggest research initiative of the year, taking a look at how some the smartest communicators are Influencing Stakeholders in a Networked Environment.  Alongside our 100s of conversations with CEC members, industry experts, academics, journalists, and vendors, we’re also analyzing hard data about what drives stakeholder support of companies.

First, it won’t come as a surprise to Comms that people are more likely to support organizations that seem to share their interests and values. And on that front, most communicators are confident that they know what their stakeholders care about—a belief that doesn’t seem all that far-fetched. (I mean, that’s our job, right?)
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A big thank you to the 100+ Heads of Communications and staff who responded to our 2010 quick-poll, sharing their current strategies for external stakeholder engagement.  Were the responses interesting? Yes.  Did they make me feel warm and fuzzy about the state of Communications? Not especially.

Let me explain why. On the one side, it’s great that communicators are focused on proactively engaging stakeholders in the current climate—not just attempting to manage negativity. It’s more of their approach that worries me.  Here are some of the poll highlights:

I’ll add some quick thoughts on a few of the data points that stood out for me:

• Communicators are on the offensive—49% of communicators say that differentiating their company is their primary objective for 2010, and 39% are focused on directly supporting sales and marketing efforts.  This strikes me as Communications taking positive steps to help their companies get ahead in the ever-aggressive battle for stakeholder support and market share.  We’ve heard a lot of our members facing real pressure to get closer to the bottom line as budget and scrutiny tightens, which seems to be playing out here. Read More »

One of the best lines I’ve heard from a CEC member lately was a quote about brand guidelines from their CEO:

“I don’t care what they call us, as long as they call us.” 

It’s not a bad sentiment from executives focused on quarterly profits, but it’s questionable for communicators trying build the long-term value of the brand.

Two issues immediately arise: 1) what’s the point of brand guidelines as long as they “call us”? and 2) if we agree that the brand guidelines have value, then what can Communications do to enforce them—particularly in relatively decentralized organizations?

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