This past week, Ragan Communications held its annual Communications Week, which was founded 10 years ago by Kite Hill PR’s very own CEO, Tiffany Guarnaccia. This year’s Future of Communications conference focused on upcoming trends and strategies for employee communications, social purpose, DE&I, leadership communications, and technology. The speakers and panelists, all top executives and great minds from organizations like J. Crew, Forbes, PayPal and more, discussed the strategies, tactics, tools, and technology we need need to find success in leadership.
While there was so much valuable information to unpack, below are a few key learnings that stood out after the conference wrapped:
Communicators are storytellers — make sure yours is worth telling
In our teams and organizations, it is necessary that we convey information in a compelling way, whether that be internal or external communications. We need to tell a story that drives a result. Anyone can tell a story, but a truly great story requires five elements: humans, emotion, movement, voice, and color. Without these elements, your story will just be another shout into the void.
Don’t focus on the numbers, focus on what the numbers are telling you
Data is the first thing on everyone’s minds. It’s all about what data insights you can offer and how those insights can be leveraged into results. As communicators, data analysis might seem daunting (as most of those in the communications field tend to opt for words instead of numbers). But if you look at data as another way to tell a story, you’ll see that the numbers behind the impressions are only as good as the insights you get from them.
There is a difference between listening to react and listening to understand
The workplace has undergone significant changes in the past few years, resulting in the need for transparent communication and candor. If we are only listening to react, there is no room for compromise and change. Listening to understand creates an environment of trust within our teams that leads the way to meaningful change and efficient results.
You need to be agile not only in principle but also in practice
Agility is a value many teams are prioritizing, Kite Hill PR included. But it’s not enough to merely say, “we’re agile” and hope that manifestation wills its way into your workforce. You need to practice it by implementing tools and processes that allow your teams to work in an efficient and results-driven manner. One way to ensure agile practice is through working in sprints. Our Kite Hill PR team has practiced the PR Sprint® Workflow for the past few years. With this approach to work, we are able to create short-term plans that garner long-term results.
Learn more about Kite Hill PR’s PR Sprint® Workflow here!
-Holly Rust, Account Executive