Posted by lyr

Strategic Communications at Work

1) Never communicate to inform. 

If you have a goal to inform, Ask yourself why exactly you want to communicate? In cases like these it sometimes turns out that communication isn’t necessary at all. But in most cases you’ll eventually find a more action-oriented goal, such as receiving feedback or making a follow-up appointment to discuss possible collaboration. 

2) Have a Story Arc in your communication...


....To avoid the anticlimactic experience.  



    3) The GOAL of any business meeting is Inform> Create Interest> Take Action

    A framework to decide your communication goal & form your Big Idea.
      

    Your Communication Goals

    The Big Idea

    Why do I want to inform my audience?

    (Guide your reasons for communications with 3 layers of whys.)

    Who is my primary audience?

    Narrowed down to a single person (decision-maker) or persona, who will that be?

    Why does my audience want information from me? 

    (Why were you asked to give the presentation? What is the question behind the question?) 

    What does my audience care about?  

    What do I want my audience to do?

    What are the benefits if your audience acts the way you want them to? 

    ...opportunity to improve sales by X%

    ...

    What would go wrong if I don’t communicate at all? 

    (What's the compelling reason for you to communicate?) 

    What are the risks if your audience do not? 

    Lost opportunity to...


    Use your underlying goal to focus your story. 


    ..test an app

    ..get volunteers

    approval for...

    ..etc


    Can you explicitly mention your goal, and what you want your audience to do?

    Form your BIG IDEA :

    Articulate your point of view, 

    Convey what’s at stake, 

    In a single, complete sentence! 


    REFINE & REFRAME


     

    4) Storyboard helps to craft the message to deliver the solution!

    "When you spend time up front identifying and getting to know your audience, crafting the main message, and storyboarding content, you emerge with a plan of attack."
     

    1

    Brainstorm what details you possibly include in the eventual presentation. 


    • Is this the first time you’ve introduced your Big Idea to the client? 

    • Do you anticipate they will respond favorably or unfavorably? 

    • Do you anticipate needing to get buy-ins from decision-makers on your recommendations? If so, what data points do you need?

    2

    Edit


    • Examine all the ideas generated at Step 1 to identify which are essential. Discard the rest. 

    • Create the storyboard or Outline of your presentation.

    • Consider : Having identified your audiences likely response in step 1, will you start with the Big idea or will you lead up to it?


    3

    Get feedback on the storyboard 


    • What assumptions are you making about your audience; and check them for accuracy. 

    • Who are the colleauges who have successfuly or unsucessfully communicated to your audience and what perspective do they offer?


    Potential Components of a storyboard :

     


    5) Build a clear structure with SCQA (with a Story ARC)


    Situation: Functions as a starting point and a common basis. Therefore it primarily contains recognizable and agreed points.

    Complication: Spells the reason for acting now. It contains threats / opportunities and the hurdles that need to be overcome.

    Question: Asks the question how the hurdles of the C can be overcome. How can prevent the threat or seize the opportunity?

    Answer: Provides the answer on how to overcome the hurdles. Explains how this will help deflect the threats or seize the opportunities.

    Extracted from : https://analytic-storytelling.com/scqa-what-is-it-how-does-it-work-and-how-can-it-help-me/
    The framework will improve the process of making a story. You are more in control of the structure, which helps you decide what to include and what not to include. And it allows you to analyze how the different elements of your message are related.

    Second, the SCQA framework generally leads to a better result. A message with an SCQA is comprehensible and interesting and has a pleasant narrative arc. Also, your audience feels the urgency, which makes it more inclined to use your information.


    Examples of storyboard content: 
    (Don't forget to include cost & benefit analysis of your Big Idea. )



    Examples extracted from Storytelling with Data: Let's Practice! 1st Edition by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic  



    The Overview




    The essence above is written with reference from articles and books below : 
    • Storytelling with Data: Let's Practice! 1st Edition by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic  
    • The Analytic Storytelling Team : https://analytic-storytelling.com/en/ (Golden nuggets of wisdom divulged on SCQA and pitfalls) 

    Other concepts to be further referenced but not explored..  
    SCORE is an expanded version of SCQA representing Situation Complication Resolution Example (SCoRE) 
    NOSE for writing persuasive business proposals

    • Structure Your Ideas- Pyramid Principle Part 1 & Part 2 from Strategyu.co/
    Comprise of 1) Synthesize & Structure insights using (MECE) Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive, 2) Communicate top down starting with the Answer. 




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