To learn more about our approach to communications and build your communications knowledge and capacity, please feel free to take a look at the tools and information below. Also let us know how they worked for you, or contact us if you have any further questions.
Strategic Communications
A strategic approach to communications is relatively straightforward, but developing a plan that connects your objectives with dynamic messages and vehicles is harder. Creating a plan you can actually execute against is even harder.
If your time and resources are limited, try to be both ambitious and realistic. Look for ways you can leverage existing activities to support this work. Think about sources of supplemental funds that might pay for you to implement some of your strategies.
And when you begin the work, focus on preparation and fully understanding its scope, so that each activity can be as effective as possible. SCP also offers a variety of in-person training options. Contact us to see what we can do for your organization.
Here are a couple of resources to get you started:
- Are We There Yet?, a Hands-on, Minds-on Guide to Developing a Strategic Communications Plan. This interactive tool features seven steps to creating an effective communications plan, each with an interactive worksheet and guiding questions.
- Communications Resources is a helpful list of articles, books and websites that help us in our work and can help you in yours.
- SCUniversity is an eight part series of short videos laying out the key steps to developing a strategic communications plan.
Strategic Communications for Foundations
Foundations’ primary asset is their grantmaking, but communications can amplify grantmakers’ ability to influence a wide range of community leaders, policymakers, and media. In a world suffused with 24/7 news cycles, never-ending social media access, and a constant stream of instantly accessible information, communications can and should be integrated into a broader, organizational strategy, helping funders achieve the ambitious outcomes they seek.
Based on years of experience working with a wide array of foundations, SCP has written a white paper on the pivotal role strategic communications plays in amplifying grantmaking strategy and financial investments.
SCP also offers a variety of options to help you find the right communications strategy for your foundation. Contact us to get started.
Public Speaking and Media Management
SCP often collaborates with clients to develop engaging public presentations and prepare for speaking with members of the media. From one-on-one consultation services to dynamic group trainings, our goal is to help professionals develop meaningful connections with their audiences.
Here are some of the general resources, as well as some specific ideas for scientific or healthcare professionals when they talk with lay or consumer audiences.
- Speech Preparation Guidelines walks you step-by-step through the speech writing process — from objective development to speech delivery.
- Tips for Communicating with a Lay Audience helps scientists and technical professionals convey complex messages to non-technical audiences.
- Sound Bites with Bite provides tips for developing easily digestible messages that will get you and your issue the media coverage you want.
- Managing the Conversation delivers practical information on how to stay on message when your agenda and the reporter’s agenda don’t match.
- Our resources on social media introduce various platforms and how to best utilize them: Social Media 101, Social Media 201, and Anatomy of a Tweet.
Effective Posters
Poster presentations are intended to both share information and draw viewers into a conversation about your research. Too often, presenters don’t think strategically about their posters. They focus too intently on what should go on the poster before they have a clear sense of their objective, audience, and message.
Below are some tools to help you create a message-driven, visually engaging poster that generates enthusiasm about your work and helps you get the most out of your next poster session.
- PosterBuzz is a unique resource designed to help you create dynamic posters that ensure your research—and your ideas—stand out in a crowd. It includes tutorials and downloadable templates, with optional consulting support.
- Developing Effective Poster Presentations was published in the newsletter of the Gerontological Society of America in 2005.
Branding
A brand identity represents what an organization stands for and implies a promise to that group’s primary stakeholders or customers. The brand identity also includes a “value proposition” that describes the functional, emotional, or self-expressive benefits of the organization and/or its products.
A strong and consistently communicated brand identity can be the basis of a new logo or even name, can help build awareness, and can speed the education of key audiences. It can quickly distinguish your organization from its competitors or others occupying the same communications space.
- The Brand Identity Worksheet can help you think through the process of establishing your organization’s brand identity.
Problem-Solving Consultancy Model
For over 20 years, SCP has successfully used a “consultancy” model of peer-to-peer problem solving to help individuals and organizations address specific communications challenges. We’ve also used it very effectively within our own teams to brainstorm approaches to particularly challenging pieces of work. In fact, this model of peer-to-peer group problem solving can be used for a wide variety of purposes.
The value of the “consultancy” model is that the person presenting the challenging issue receives lots of ideas in a concentrated amount of time (generally less than 15 minutes). And those providing the input report that they often pick up useful notions that can be applied to their own projects. It is a fast-paced, structured process that both generates new ideas and builds team cohesion.
Get the details here and try it out.
Looking for help getting started? SCP offers a variety of trainings that can be customized to meet your organization’s needs. Contact us to see how we can design a workshop or training that is right for you.
Creating a ‘sharing kit’— with suggested text and images — doesn’t take much additional time once you’ve created content for yourself and makes it easier for others to share.
This guide describes the elements of a sharing kit and tips for creating language your colleagues can use in their newsletters, websites, and social media.
Get the details here and try it out.
Looking for help getting started? Contact us!