Writing can be a daunting task even for the most seasoned internal communications professionals. There’s a lot to consider before the writing process begins. Use these tips to help refine the process.
Connect your workforce through meaningful communication.
1. Audience
Audience is defined by who reads the content. There are many: senior leaders, people managers, individual contributors, front-line workers and more. Help stakeholders define who the reader is then adjust the content to fit the audience.
Examine how understanding the audience is the key to writing a quality communication.
2. Language
Use simple words that readers understand. Eliminate acronyms, idioms and filler words, especially when writing for a global audience. Employees whose first language isn’t English will be grateful.
Take a look at how eliminating filler words will help strengthen writing.
3. Style
Develop your own style of writing. Keep sentences and paragraphs short. Check with other communicators in the organization to see what style guide they use, such as the AP Stylebook. Also ask for the brand guidelines. It includes information about how to use the company logo, color palette, font, etc. Include hyperlinks to similar content or to redirect readers to past stories. Limit the use to no more than two.
4. Tone
Tone varies based on the content. Keep it light and cheerful, especially during difficult times, a merger and acquisition, an organizational transformation or announcement, or relaying bad news. No one likes doom and gloom. It’s important to consider employees’ feelings and how they may react.
5. Voice
Internal communicators do a lot of ghostwriting for all levels of the organization but especially for senior leaders. Get to know the person you’re ghostwriting for. Use similar vocabulary. If they haven’t developed a voice, help them find one.
6. Headlines and Subject Lines
It takes a second to catch a reader’s attention. Captivating headlines and subject lines can do just that all while increasing readership. Keep them short, include data points and key words.
Apply these five tips when writing a headline or subject line.
7. Graphics
Include photos, infographics, charts or any other visuals to tell a story. Canva is a great graphic design tool for infographics and charts. Templates are available for just about anything. Noun Project is another great site for sourcing icons and iStock offers stock photos. There are options for anything under the sun.
Remember to give a brief description of what’s happening and the name(s) of the person in the photo(s). It helps bring the story to life and attract readers. If one photo, infographic or chart increases readership, it’s a win! It’s all about measuring impact.
Explore how infographics can make an impact on your communications.
8. Channels
Determining what to communicate is the easy part. The hard part is choosing the right outlet to publish content. There are lots of opinions on this topic. Channels can include email, newsletters, mobile apps, intranet, senior leaders, people managers, Teams or Slack and more. The important thing is to find out how employees want to receive their news and information. This can be done via a five-question survey or focus groups. People need to hear things at least three times before it resonates with them. Plan to publish content using several channels.
Check out these 17 communication channels that will engage employees.
🔎 Dive Deeper: What is Multichannel Communication and How to Get it Right
Don’t forget to use spellcheck before sending the copy to the reviewer.
In conclusion, AI is the newest internal communications tool working its way into our profession. It’s important to remember it can’t compete with human touch. It’s okay to use it. Be prepared to edit. Use the aforementioned tips to help.
Look for opportunities to hone internal communications skills. Here are a few resources. They publish newsletters with top-notch content.
Crescenzo Communications
Ragan Communications
The Grossman Group
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About the author
Rhonda Carlson is a global internal communications guru with 16 years of experience working in the consumer packages goods and financial industry. She loves to develop content and write and edit stories that engage employees, define a communications strategy that helps employees see how their work relates to the organization’s goals and objectives, and shaping culture. You can learn more about her by reading her LinkedIn profile.
