Christine's Communication Blog

Entries tagged as ‘communication’

IX – You don’t need a large external provider for a small budget

11.11.2009 · Leave a Comment

I always think that size does matter, especially when a company appears to be larger than it actually is, and just because you can list 23 subsidiaries on 5 continents, for e.g.. Anyway, as a communication professional I feel strongly about selecting the right external providers for your internal and external communication activities. Not the biggest, fanciest with the most luxurious, but someone that understands my communication needs, be it for a simple recording of a statement from the CEO to organizing the entire communication of a live broadcast of an extraordinary annual general meeting which is viewed by hundreds of people across the globe.DSC00055

Bringing the world together

Truly I’d start with a small communication project, see how it goes and see how you like it. Do a video on demand, as you are less under pressure in case the speakers mess up or the weather is bad (if you are doing the shooting outside) or some technical emergency pops up. Over the years I did a lot of testing with different scenarios, and depending on the bandwidth, employees in a small office would gather in front of one screen to watch the video. They’d tell me many times that they enjoyed coming together and through the video felt more closely connected to the headquarter thousands of miles away.

Creating a big bang

P1040158Compared with traditional communication (print) tools, and don’t get me wrong, I have had great experiences working with ad agencies and producing plenty of print material, the cost of webcasts on average is often lower and the impact so much greater. Assume you are using a webcast for a message from the CEO, an update on the business strategy and your are introducing a new Executive Team member, that is three in one right there. Don’t have to bother writing individual pieces including a speech, a presentation, an internal announcement etc. No need trying to copy all different user groups into the ‘To:’ field of your E-mail. As soon as you have the video up on the Internet a broad audience can view it as much and as long as they want. And, you can even track the traffic.

Categories: corporate communication · employee relations · internal communication · strategic communication
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VIII – In communication it’s all about the mind-set

04.11.2009 · Leave a Comment

Remote00099I grew up being exposed to new technologies and computers from an early age onwards. Then at university in the USA we were required to e-mail our research papers or hand them in on a disk, which seemed quite revolutionary at the time. Later on, in my professional communication career, somehow, I got stuck with different sorts of web projects mostly from an internal communications perspective. Colleagues say I inspire them and as I enjoy working in interdisciplinary teams and on technical topics, communication and PR on the one hand and IT-related activities on the other, make up an ideal mix for me.

Taking on the responsibility and seeing the big picture

Of course I was the one carrying the responsibility for introducing webcasts for internal communications and there was always the chance something out of my reach would go horribly wrong, but I couldn’t let fear get in the way. It’s my job to bring people together, provide the most suitable communications channel for distributing relevant information to a wide audience and collecting feedback to make it even better next time.DSC_0066

Take it from me, I had my doubts if our employees wouldn’t get tired of watching videos say, on a monthly basis, but to them it was so important to see the company’s executives’ and senior staff members’ faces regularly. Colleagues in Tokyo feel more connected and part of the company, staffers in Argentina see the big picture and understand the overall business strategy and the employees at the Cologne hub hear what questions their counterparts in Zurich are raising towards the Global Executive Team. That really helps and at the end of the day makes my live easier too.

Categories: corporate communication · employee relations · event communication · internal communication · strategic communication
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VI – Show me the advantages and I will show you the content

22.10.2009 · Leave a Comment

Picture 13In communication we talk about two-way communication, sender and receiver, interactive and dialogue, viral and e-communication, as well as integrated communication plans and concepts. With webcasts, I am sending out very specific information, portioned into digestible news blocks or categories on average to a very broad audience. Therefore my role was to brief and coach the CEO and Executive Team members as to their performance in front of the camera as well as the messages we wanted them to bring across to employees, clients, shareholders etc. I made sure any scripts and presentation print-outs were available, the microphones working, the speakers desk set up and any and Q&As prepared. Often times during an employee information event, I’d sit in the front row close to the speaker’s desk, just in case something went wrong. From there I also had eye contact with the cameraman recording the webcast who could give me hand signs should any technical issues arise.

Reading the non-verbal communication signs

Be aware of who you are broadcasting to. Depending on your receivers, you need to prepare your content accordingly. As this is an honest and sometimes non-forgiving format, where people pick up on non-verbal signs as much as what is actually said, interpretations may vary depending on cultures, religions, gender and hierarchical level. IMG_1552Keep your communication bits relevant, significant and to the point. It all depends on how it is delivered. You have surely heard that a million times, but take note, with webcast this holds true even more.

Connecting with the audience

I see so much wasted content, that I wonder what really sticks with the people. One of the best examples I experienced was the introductory speech of a new CEO, early in the morning on a cold winter day in February where employees at first seemed half asleep sitting in the auditorium where they suddenly got captivated by the company’s new leader through her clarity and direction, charisma and personal engagement. Wow, that was an experience. We webcast it to all our local offices around the globe and received instant feedback on our new CEO from the far corners of the world.

Categories: corporate communication · internal communication · investor relations · marketing communication · shareholder communication
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V – See me, hear me; loud and clear: the value of webcasting

15.10.2009 · Leave a Comment

Let me make one thing clear: There is tremendous value in introducing streaming products to your organization, if you believe it or not. Why? Because you are communicating directly, practically face-to-face and in a transparent and uncensored manner with your audiences. Getting feedback is easy and people will tell you quite honestly what they think of content you just published. In addition, hundreds of companies in Switzerland alone have produced webcasts over the past 10 years.

Bridging the gap between IT and communicationPicture 16

When I first started using webcasts, that was for employee information events in internal communication, I was a little bit skeptical because I did not fully understand what broadcasting on the Internet was all about or how it really worked, and that I as a communication professional would be able to reap such benefits from it in my work during many years. Prior, I had experienced the old-fashioned business TV in all its glory, but couldn’t quite imagine that webcasting would be so easy – and less costly!

After a couple of tests together with one of our IT guys and the people from Solutionpark, I slowly got the hang of it and figured that this would work for a geographically highly spread out audience on multiple continents on the one hand and even more importantly, that our CEO would go for it and actively participate as well as other members of the Executive Team. I must say that they had already been doing live investor calls with presentation webcasts (slides only) and were used to the set-up, though without a camera or live audience in front of them. It turned out to be a success with employees eager to see and hear the CEO’s presentations on quarterly results, strategy, significant personnel announcements etc. Since then I have produced many webcasts for various occasions and communication situations and have become a firm believer in the benefits of streaming technology.

Speaking out

NZZ Online

NZZ Online

I have been talking primarily from a communication perspective but want to point out the value for CEOs, Executive Team and/or Board members as well. Through this communication channel a CEO gains significant visibility throughout the organization, even without traveling around and thus saving time and travel costs. Plus, a leader’s credibility can be strengthened on a broad scale and key messages reinforced across entities and organizational structures. Independent of time zone, hierarchy, function, corporate culture or location, everyone with access to the web can see and hear a company’s messages.

What do you think? Send me your thoughts and comments.

Categories: corporate communication · internal communication · investor relations · marketing communication
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IV – If you are expecting more of others, expect more from yourself too

08.10.2009 · Leave a Comment

I have been working in communication departments for many years for demanding bosses and evenmore demanding CEOs. The orders are passed down the line and we tend to, at least sometimes, pass on those tasks to outside parties. Some communications people may say: “You just do it, I don’t want to have anything to do with it. And, it’s not allowed to cost too much.” Or “I want to know this and that and every detail. And why is it this way and why that way and why why why…..” That is not how it is going to work. You got to learn a little bit about webcasts and trust in the experts. Don’t forget, it’s about team work and collaboration. The goal is to have things run smoothly and look good. So how can you make it happen?

Test, check, test, check…

pic3Set realistic expectations, allow yourself enough time for the preparation and testing phase. Take the lead in organizing the location and briefing the speakers. It helps to clarify the logistical details in advance, to make sure you have things in place before you get started. Once the camera is rolling it’s much harder to fix something that isn’t already working.

From my experience I can tell you that it is invaluable to be well organized, have your scripts, presentations, Q&As etc. ready, to stay calm and let the streaming engineers and web TV producers do their job! Do a sound and light check, make sure the air condition is working if you expect a large crowd and try to make your speakers as comfortable as possible. Accompany them to the start of the webcast and reassure them of the benefits of its use and cost effectiveness.

Tracking your viewers’ behavior

Following the production of a webcast and its publication on the respective Internet page, you will have the opportunity to get instant feedback from users e.g. via e-mail and get hard facts in the form of statistics from the respective Internet page usage. This way you get a track record immediately. I’d have so many people call or e-mail me on the latest video stream and they’d tell me right away if for some reason something wasn’t working.

The good news is that you can rely on an external partner like Solutionpark who takes care of and looks after the entire technical side. I produced many many webcasts and videos for the intra- and Internet over years for a variety of internal and external audiences and scenarios, even in crisis situations. Every time the video was completed and uploaded in time for all to watch. We also did a lot live streaming and as far as I can remember there were no major glitches that the viewers would have noticed. On that note I can only say: it’s worth it, giving it a try.

Categories: corporate communication · internal communication · investor relations · strategic communication
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II – Go for strategy and bundle your communications activities

29.09.2009 · Leave a Comment

When one of your communication goals is to deliver accurate, fast and timely information to a specific target audience, who wouldn’t want a tool that makes reaching such an objective relatively easy. And why not try to actually bundle some of the communication activities using new media technologies, distributing relevant information via Inter- and intranet and interacting with your target audiences in a quick and uncomplicated way. So, point your communication strategy into a new direction, incorporate and adapt your communication plans, making your activities more user-friendly and ultimately more successful. That is the way I ultimately did it.

Finding a focused communication strategy approachedit_luethi_scriptscreen_hoch_warm

I found that focusing my communication activities and defining a more targeted approach really helped me get the message across in a clear, direct and understandable way. For example, the CEO and Executive Team would deliver their speeches to employees live in the auditorium at a convenient time in the morning, i.e. European time in this case, while we’d record them and have it on the intranet one hour following the event including Q&A. As a result, the US could watch the session as soon as they got to work in the morning and Asia saw the presentations before they left the office in the evening. That was great. Nobody felt left out. The way we used the webcasts had a strategic focus too because one of the most important communication principles was to inform employees first, fast and straight forward – always.

Setting priorities

edit_kamera_hochAs a communication professional I know what it’s like struggling for attention and budget as well as the Executives’ time to get involved in communication activities. Therefore you need to drive for an effective approach with new technologies that makes them easy to use widely and distribute your communication message to a broad audience quickly: E-mail, intranet, Internet with all its reader-/viewer-friendly news-oriented features available at their fingertips.

Make it a strategic priority to get your target audiences hooked on these new channels of information distribution. You won’t regret it!

Categories: corporate communication · employee relations · event communication · internal communication · strategic communication
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I – Webcast – why me? Introduction to an indispensible communications tool

29.09.2009 · 2 Comments

First of all I would like to set the stage for introducing a piece of sophisticated technology to you. As a great fan and believer of streaming products, I want to start by explaining some basics and getting a couple facts and possible misconceptions straight. To tell you the truth, I was pretty confused at the beginning myself. So here we go.

IMG_1540What is a webcast?

A webcast is a video and/or presentation that is produced and published on the Internet using so-called streaming technology. The webcast is either done ‘live’ or ‘on demand.’ Webcasting is a type of “broadcasting” over the Internet. It can be shown on an Inter-, intra or extranet. Webcasts use streaming technology to publish content on an Internet page and distribute it to many listeners and/or viewers simultaneously. There are many possibilities for using webcasts as I learned working with Solutionpark over the years.

How are webcasts used?

Webcasts are typically used for investor relations presentations to the financial community, for the transmission of annual general meetings to shareholders and the public, for recording employee events and presentations for the intranet, for broadcasting medical conferences and offering further education to doctors and scientists. These are just a couple of examples.

Who (typically) organizes the webcasts?

Mostly, investor relations and corporate communications responsibles are assigned the task of planning and organizing webcasts. Event managers, media relations people, internal communications specialists or other communication professionals might also be in charge of producing a webcast.

Why is it an indispensible communications tool? pic6

Once you start working with webcasts, you won’t want to go back to some of the traditional, time- and cost consuming communications tools. The preparation and production is quick, the feedback is immediate. You are flexible and fast. It’s independent of time and location, can be watched by audiences around the globe where and whenever they want to: the perfect tool for businesses on the move. I love it. And who doesn’t like moving pictures these days?!

Categories: corporate communication · employee relations · event communication · internal communication
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