Junk in, Junk out

1
Junk in, Junk out

• Whats wrong with internal communications
• . . . And what you can do about it
• Mark Ragan
• and Steve Crescenzo

2
The Two Battles We Fight The Most
3
Were losing the only battle that matters . . .

• . . . The Battle for Readership!

4
(No Transcript)
5
Hell Yes We Value Diversity!
Thats why were all wearing different ties!
6
Whats the problem?

• Todays audiences
• Busy, distracted and cynical
• Getting hit with a thousand messages at once
• Will always choose what they like to read over
  what they have to read
• Have no time for corporate stuff
• Writing with personality and flair is not a
  luxury . . . Its a necessity

7
Your writing has to rival what readers find in
the other world

• Personality
• Drama
• Humor
• Human interest
• Informative
• And all written with style, substance and at
  times, even a little sass

8
(No Transcript)
9
(No Transcript)
10
(No Transcript)
11
(No Transcript)
12
(No Transcript)
13
(No Transcript)
14
So how do we get there?

• Storytelling. People like to read and hear about
  other people. They dont care about slogans and
  abstract concepts
• Straight talk. Employees appreciate clear,
  concise communication, whether the news is good
  or bad. No corporate-speak, no b.s.
• Conversation. Employees want answers from their
  leaders and immediate supervisors. But they also
  want to participate in the business by offering
  their own ideas and feedback.

15
You can do this right now

• Immediately, with your words
• By sticking toand enforcingthese
• 10 fundamental rules

16
1. Clarity above all

• Simple, clear language
• Strong, active verbs

17
(No Transcript)
18
During World War II, FDR reviewed this memo

• Such preparations shall be made as will
  completely obscure all Federal buildings and
  non-Federal buildings occupied by the Federal
  government during an air raid for any period of
  time from visibility by reason of internal or
  external illumination.

19
He responded this way

• Tell them that in buildings where they have to
  keep the work going to put something across the
  windows.

20
2. Specificity rules

• E.B. Whites The Elements of Style, Rule 16
• Prefer the specific to the general, the definite
  to the vague, the concrete to the abstract

21
Which is better?

• 1. A period of unfavorable weather set in.
• 2. It rained every day for a week.

22
(No Transcript)
23
(No Transcript)
24
(No Transcript)
25
3. Avoid jargon, fancy words and the flavor of
the month

• Separate good detail from bad
• Explain terms we may not understand
• Choose a simple word over a complex one
• Ban all corporate speak
• Explain this to the bosses

26
Dont let this through

• At the end of the day, we leveled the playing
  field by proactively leveraging our core
  competencies and tasking ourselves to focus on
  our key deliverables.

27
(No Transcript)
28
People are playing B.S. bingo
Synergy Strategic Fit Gap Analysis Best Practice Bottom Line
Revisit Bandwidth Hardball Out of the Loop Benchmark
Value-Added Proactive Win-Win Think Outside the Box Fast Track
Result-Driven Empower / Empower-ment Knowledge Base Total Quality / Quality Driven Touch Base
Mindset Client Focused Ball Park Game Plan Leverage
29
Testimonials from satisfied players I had
only been in the meeting for five minutes when I
won. -Jack W. - Boston My attention span
at meetings has improved dramatically.
-David D. - Florida What a gas. Meetings will
never be the same for me after my first win.
-Bill R. - New York City The atmosphere
was tense in the last process meeting as 14 of us
waited for the 5th box. -Ben G. -
Denver The speaker was stunned as eight of us
screamed Bullshit for the third time in 2
hours. -Kathleen L. - Atlanta