About communication

Effective communications is not about spreading naked news facts. It’s about how you get connected with your audience. How do you present yourself? As a pusher of marketing messages or as an interesting storyteller who joins the conversation? You don’t mind? That’s your PR agent’s problem? Well then you’d better hire someone else but me…

First of all good communications can only be put into action if you let your consultant work WITH and not only for you. Comunications are a management function! As Seth Godin commented recently on the difference between PR and publicity: A communications consultant can only work effectively with you, if you “give them the freedom and access they need to work with you on your story”. (via @vascellari)

So what is needed to enable your communications consultant to produce good communications WITH you?

• Responsibility – name someone whose job it is to interact with your communications consultant
• Availability – be available for questions, updates or feedback REGULARLY!
• Transparency – let your communications consultant know what you want and why you want it that way
• Openness – be open for other approaches but the one you’ve always and forever used so far
• Honesty – be honest enough to speak your mind and to ask questions, don’t play a role
• Trust – (does that need further explanation?)
• Content – information about your what, who, why, where, when, how prepared in a way you have agreed on with your communications consultant

Anything else you’d like to add to this list?