Added Value Communication's newsletter no. 5, March 2010
Inspiration and ideas to strengthen your communication effort
Content
- Messages in spring time
- How do you impact the press?
- When managers communicate
- Links to interesting websites about communications
1. Messages in Spring Time
Welcome to a letter inspired by spring time and optimism. After a winter with snow and frost, which we have not experienced the likes of for many years, the weather in
This letter focuses on ways to profile your business in the press. It may sound dangerous. It does not have to be, at least not if you know how to handle the dialogue with journalists. Some of my advice comes from a seminar for members of Ringsted's Business Forum.
When it comes to internal communication, there is room for improvement in many companies and organizations. Studies over the years have shown this. I give suggestions on how to improve the dialogue with employees.
Enjoy!
Best regards,
2. How do you impact the press?
You should consider the media as a communication channel when you launch new products and services.
Many companies could benefit from an ongoing effort in the media as part of their marketing effort. Positive media coverage is a good supplement to regular advertising, when it comes to getting your messages and news to a wider audience.
It is a good idea to use the press when you launch products and services to strengthen your business profile with customers and partners, to show people you are an attractive place to work, or if you want to divert attention from bad news.
Good news in the media can also be
Re-launch of old products are
New big orders
Environmental Improvements
New jobs
New top managers
Financial statements
Trends in the industry, at work and in society.
How do you get the attention?
First and foremost, you should think about what you are going to tell the media . What is my message? To whom will I tell my message? Who is my target audience? How do I connect with my audience? What channels - media - do they read or watch?
When messages, target groups and channels are in place, you can start to organize the press effort.
It is crucial that you try to think as a journalist. Journalists choose their stories from a number of news criteria, which it is important to know. If your story does not live up to the journalistic news criteria, it has no chance of being mentioned.
The main news criteria are:
Timing - has just happened, upcoming events. It could be the launch af a new product.
Significance - something that affects society. The more people news affects, the more significant it is.
Proximity - the story must be relevant or close to the recipients. It can e.g. be an initiative that affects people in the local area positively.
Sensation - is about the unexpected and the unusual. Dog bites man is not news, but man bites dog is a classic explanation of sensation.
Conflict - conflict between people and interests is always a good story in the media. However if you are in a company you shoul be careful not to try to cultivate the conflict, if it does not actually benefit the business.
Finally, the journalists also want to know what the consequences of your history are.
Need more info? Check Added Value Communication's PR support.
3. When Managers Communicate
It is interesting that the so-called "Performance Analysis" in 2008 showed that eight out of 10 employees are motivated by knowing what their manager expects from them, but that only six out of 10 managers follow up on employees' goals, demands and are good at motivating.
A manager communicates well when he or she
creates meaning
creates the structure of communication
is thinking communication into any task - from the start
has an agenda for every meeting and are involving the employees
is present
has a daily dialogue with the employees
puts the business in perspective.
It is not communication in itself that will make employees change their behaviour. It is their managers.
10 tips for improving the dialogue with employees are:
ask more questions than you give answers
do not be prejudiced, but neutral and non-judicial
be open
ask for what you want
give complete messages, not just half
ask "why?" less frequently - more "how?" and "what?"
be tenacious - ask a second time
be an active listener
Be curious
do not assume anything, ask.
Read more about the workshop for management teams, focusing on how to strengthen communication with employees. It is a course offered by Added Value Communication in collaboration with Story Finder.
5. Links to interesting websites
Dropbox is a small program you install on your computer or mac and gain access to a spare drive. In principle, you get access to an additional hard drive, located on the web. That means it is accessible from any PC or Mac that is on-line.
wired.com is a
Follow Added Value Communication på facebook, where we have frequent updates, which provide inspiration to make more of the communications effort. English and Danish updates.
Get our bi-monthly newsletter in the future.
