| Communications consultants provide a wide range of | | | | track, to engage the opinions and talents of all |
| services for organizations and individuals. The three | | | | participants, and to achieve your objective. |
| fundamental questions a communications consultant | | | | 5. Internet & Intranet |
| should always ask are: | | | | You must have a presence on the Internet, today, to |
| 1. What is your message? | | | | talk to the world at large, but it is becoming equally |
| 2. Who is your audience? | | | | important to talk to your own people via your |
| 3. What is the best vehicle to get the message across | | | | company intranet. This technology, coupled with internal |
| to that audience? | | | | e-mail, is fast replacing printed internal communications. |
| These are the building blocks of any effective | | | | This is a complex medium, requiring specialized |
| communications strategy. There are almost as many | | | | technical skills and a new way of conveying |
| ways to package your message as there are | | | | information to busy employees. It's fast moving, graphic, |
| messages. Here are some of those packages: | | | | and the ultimate sound/sight byte. Web surfers have |
| 1. Audio | | | | short attention spans; if you don't catch their eyes or |
| In today's frenetic, over-scheduled world, | | | | ears instantly, with the click of a mouse, they're gone. |
| communication is often tucked into the spaces | | | | Web copy has to be short, snappy, informative, and |
| between activities. Two particularly effective vehicles | | | | memorable. |
| for taking in information on the run are cassette tapes | | | | 6. Public Relations |
| and CDs. Since almost everyone listens to them at | | | | Public relations (PR) is both an element of marketing |
| home, in the car, or while exercising, what better way | | | | and a distinct discipline that comprises many facets -- |
| to communicate, motivate, educate, inform, market, | | | | articles in the general or trade press, media relations, |
| persuade, or train virtually any audience? | | | | press materials, promotions and premiums, special |
| 2. Corporate Communications | | | | events, crisis management, and a host of others. |
| Corporate communications are the ways in which | | | | Some PR practitioners specialize in one or two of |
| businesses convey messages to their internal and | | | | them; others are generalists and do a little of |
| external audiences. The internal audience consists of all | | | | everything. A great deal of training, ability, and effort |
| levels of employees and management, as well as the | | | | goes into every aspect of public relations, which has |
| board of directors. The purpose of employee | | | | become a very sophisticated field over the years. |
| communications is to have messages travel in both | | | | 7. Speeches & Presentations |
| directions: from management down through the ranks, | | | | There are few formats for presenting important |
| and from employees up through channels to the very | | | | information that make a bigger impact on an audience |
| top of the organization. The external audience is | | | | than a well-delivered, verbal presentation. A speaker |
| everyone else -- shareholders, the public, consumers, | | | | has the opportunity to communicate through all of the |
| competitors, and other businesses. | | | | senses: seeing, hearing, reading nonverbal cues, and |
| 3. Marketing communications | | | | sometimes even touching. This can be a golden |
| Marketing communications is an umbrella term for such | | | | opportunity to get your message across if the speech |
| disciplines as advertising, direct mail, public relations, | | | | is planned and executed correctly. An effective |
| special events, media placement, multi-media | | | | presentation must include a clearly thought-out theme; |
| presentations, billboards, newsletters, TV and radio | | | | an easy-to-follow organization of main points; strong, |
| spots, and Websites. Each is a specialized vehicle that | | | | convincing delivery; and attractive, informative visual |
| can be used alone or in concert with any of the others. | | | | aids, if appropriate. |
| Individually or collectively, marketing communications | | | | Professional consultants are selected based on the |
| has a single purpose -- to market a service or product | | | | area in which an organization needs professional |
| to a particular audience. | | | | advice or services. An effective communications |
| 4. Meetings | | | | consultant should be able to do as many of the |
| Meetings are integral to the way business is conducted | | | | following as possible: gather and comprehend data |
| and information is communicated in corporate America. | | | | from various sources ... identify the main points in |
| Yet, few people enjoy them, and fewer still conduct | | | | voluminous amounts of information ... frame messages |
| them very well. As a facilitator, the most important | | | | to meet the needs of a specific audience or |
| thing you can do is plan. Establish an objective, develop | | | | constituency ... connect with and influence the media ... |
| a game plan, choose the most appropriate type of | | | | and deal effectively with a wide range of people, |
| meeting to hold, and invite only those people who have | | | | including your company's senior management and |
| a reason to be there. Then, of course, you need skills | | | | employees. |
| to conduct the meeting, to keep the discussion on | | | | |