There is often a disconnect between specialists who talk in technical detail and communications teams who prefer stories told in soundbites.
I hear this when I meet trade associations, advocacy groups, think tanks, NGOs. They ask us to help train each other on communications.
The comms teams complain that specialists cannot communicate. “How can we get these policy officers to communicate clearly? It’s all jargon, platitudes and cliché. If I hear ’enhancing the fostering smart sustainable’…. again I will blow a fuse”
The specialists moan of the dumbing down of their great achievements. Policy officers and technical experts are passionate about their topics. They pour over the details of new regulations in working group meetings. They worry about the implication and the costs and opportunities to business of regulation. “So don’t dumb down my carefully worded position paper – it’s taken us ages to agree this wording with our members and it’s complete.”
Sound familiar? Well, we all need each other and we all contribute so how about we bridge this gap and learn a vital skill in management communications. The ability to scale up and down the ladder of detail depending on your audience.
Bridging the communications gap
At Communicating Europe+ we train people from policy areas and communicators to move between the levels of detail. Our training includes communications in writing and speaking at these different levels of detail.
Principles of clear communications We usually start with a workshop on the principles of messaging and clear writing and tips for presentations.
Precision and detail Then we dive right into the deep end of detail – the position paper and intervention at the committee or working group meeting.
The executive summary Then we take you up a level to the executive summary the briefing paper. The key messages with highlighted words that you pitch to policy makers or MEPs.
The sound bite speech And finally onwards to the speech, with sound bite type messages, a hook, headlines – and clear presentations, speeches, PowerPoint slides.
Our communications training is about helping you and your staff to manage communications to move these levels of detail.
Tailor made communications training
We work long term with our clients and guide them through a series of tailor made workshops that help them at each level of detail. Our training includes clear writing, message development, structuring position papers, briefing documents, talking pints for speeches, PowerPoint slides, speaking in public. A full list of our courses is on www.communicatingeu.com/training/
On-line learning resources
We tailor all our training activities and materials to your specific policy or sector. We also provide our clients with our on-line learning resources, background reading, models, exercises and assessment activities. And we have some of the best, most experienced management and communications trainers.
Contact us to see how we can help
Contact us at info@communicatingeu.com or on (02) 880 3744 for more details. We are at 14B rue de la Science (near Arts Loi) so pop round for a coffee if you are in the area!