A session I delivered at the 2019 Membership Services Conference to help people who aren't communications specialist communicate more effectively

1. @jowalters
Comms for
non-comms people
Jo Walters - 25 Dots - @jowalters
@jowalters

2. @jowalters
Hi!
I’m Jo and I *love* students’ unions.
I worked at a students’ union for
100 years, most recently as
Communications Manager.
Now I work as a freelance
marketing & comms type person.
Add something
clever about hiring
me to this slide
I use she/her pronouns as in ‘her talk
was great, she’s sooooo inspirational’

3. @jowalters
The good news:
Communicating
is easy.
You can totally
do this!
@jowalters

4. @jowalters
The baddish news:
Communicating
is a specialism.
But you can learn
to do it better!
@jowalters

5. @jowalters
A quick series of questions:
Do you currently use these
channels to communicate?
How much are you allowed to do?
Would you like to use them more?
Any other communications
channels you use or want to use?
Social media - Email newsletters - Posters, flyers & printed
things - Information online, e.g. webpages or news stories
@jowalters

6. @jowalters
Communication* /kəmjuːnɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/
the imparting or exchanging of information
the successful conveying or sharing of ideas and
feelings
*according to Google @jowalters

7. @jowalters
Communication /kəmjuːnɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/
the imparting or exchanging of information
the successful conveying or sharing of ideas and
feelings
So it is about
talking and listening
@jowalters

8. @jowalters
Communication /kəmjuːnɪˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/
the imparting or exchanging of information
the successful conveying or sharing of ideas and
feelings
These are underrated
@jowalters

9. @jowalters
So what should we do?
Get one of those roller banner things!
Ooooo we should have a new logo!
Flyers. You can never have enough flyers.
Snapchat. Definitely Snapchat.
We’ll email everyone.
These squidgy things. 10,000 of them.
@jowalters

10. @jowalters
So what should we do?
TRICK
QUESTION
@jowalters

11. @jowalters
So what should we do?
Make a plan
@jowalters

12. @jowalters
Who are you talking to?
Why is it relevant to them? Why will they care?
When/where will they be most receptive?
Where are they? Online and offline
Who do they listen to?
What are they thinking about? What do they need?
@jowalters

13. @jowalters
‘All students’ is too broad
We know that students aren’t a homogenous block
You probably need different tactics and/or messages for different types of
student
e.g. people who don’t use social media, people who don’t speak English as a first
language, society members, commuter students, science students
More targeted communication is more effective, even if it’s just mentioning
their school/faculty in an email subject line.
@jowalters

14. @jowalters
e.g. International house-hunters
Why is it relevant to them? Why will they care? Stressful thing to do, particularly
from overseas. Lack of local knowledge (both geographic & procedural)
When/where will they be most receptive? When uni place & lack of
accommodation confirmed plus late autumn/early spring terms
Where are they? Online and offline. Instagram & email over summer. X and Y
schools in particular. A, B and C societies. Currently living in uni halls.
Who do they listen to? Academics. Housing Office. Hall porters.
What are they thinking about? What do they need? Reassurance. Practical tips.
Knowledge of local rental market & areas of the city.
@jowalters

15. @jowalters
How do we know?
I made these up but you have ways to find out about your audiences:
➔ Research, e.g. NSS, NUS, YouGov, your own research.
➔ Ask your comms/marketing/data/insight colleagues.
➔ Go and talk to your audience. In person ideally.
➔ Experiment and iterate.
@jowalters

16. @jowalters
What are you trying to achieve?
What do you want people to do/think/feel
as a result of your communication?
➔ Join a sports club?
➔ Sign a petition?
➔ Book an appointment?
➔ Buy a ticket?
➔ Speak to their Personal Tutor?
➔ Confidently assert their rights?
➔ Consider appealing their exam results?
Outcomes
not outputs
@jowalters

17. @jowalters
What’s your key message?
What do you want people to do/think/feel
as a result of your communication?
➔ Join a sports club? Sport is for everyone? Sport is cheap?
➔ Sign a petition? This thing is bad? This is a great idea?
➔ Book an appointment? We know how to help you?
➔ Buy a ticket? This event will be great? This is for people like you?
➔ Speak to their Personal Tutor? They know how to help? It’s your right?
➔ Confidently assert their rights? You’re entitled to X? Don’t put up with Y?
➔ Consider appealing their exam results? It’s easy? There’s help? Hurry?
@jowalters

18. @jowalters
Keep it
simple
@jowalters

19. @jowalters
The curse of knowledge
When you’re familiar with something, or have information others don’t, it’s easy to
forget that information disparity.
@jowalters

20. @jowalters
The curse of knowledge
When you’re familiar with something, or have information others don’t, it’s easy to
forget that information disparity.
“Want to be a Student Rep? Come to Falmer 126 on Tuesday for a meeting
followed by a social. You’ll hear from the VC and some of the sabbs. You could
end up on your SSLC or even be on Senate.”
@jowalters

21. @jowalters
The curse of knowledge
When you’re familiar with something, or have information others don’t, it’s easy to
forget that information disparity.
“Want to be a Student Rep? Come to Falmer 126 on Tuesday for a meeting
followed by a social. You’ll hear from the VC and some of the sabbs. You could
end up on your SSLC or even be on Senate.”
@jowalters

22. @jowalters
The curse of knowledge
When you’re familiar with something, or have information others don’t, it’s easy to
forget that information disparity.
“Want to be a Student Rep? Come to Falmer 126 on Tuesday for a meeting
followed by a social. You’ll hear from the VC and some of the sabbs. You could
end up on your SSLC or even be on Senate.”
Watch out for jargon and colloquialisms.
@jowalters

23. @jowalters
Accessibility
I thoroughly recommend browsing accessibility.blog.gov.uk.
It focuses on digital accessibility but has many insights that
apply to all forms of communication.
Don’t rely on one format, e.g. ensure videos have subtitles/transcripts,
add alt text/image descriptions for images.
@jowalters

24. @jowalters
Fromaccessibility.blog.gov.uk
@jowalters

25. @jowalters
Make sure that your words, images and channels are inclusive.
There are inclusive stock photo services:
➔ The Gender Spectrum Collection - images of trans and non-binary models
➔ Representation Matters - inclusive, diversity and body positive photos
➔ CreateHER Stock - images of women of colour
➔ Nappy - photos of people of colour
➔ AllGo - plus-size models
Inclusivity
@jowalters

26. @jowalters
Writing well
Assume people are busy and distracted.
Start with the most important bit - It’s the reverse of
what you were taught at school (yeah they lied to you!):
it should be end, middle, beginning.
Highlight key points in bold, use bullet points and
subheadings to help people skim.
Use short sentences and paragraphs.
Write in the active voice.
@jowalters

27. @jowalters
My three whats
You what?
Make sure I can understand what you’re saying
So what?
Make me care
Now what?
Show me what to do next
@jowalters

28. @jowalters
How do you
cut through
the noise? @jowalters

29. @jowalters
Be useful & relevant
Don’t be another voice just shouting random things at students
Provide useful resources
Demonstrate you know what you’re talking about
Earn their interest and permission to talk to them
Research permission marketing & content marketing to learn more
@jowalters

30. @jowalters@jowalters

31. @jowalters
Keep it
simple
Design
@jowalters

32. @jowalters@jowalters

33. @jowalters
Social media
Algorithms decide what people see -
aim to be relevant and interesting
Instagram is a great platform. Use polls
and questions in stories to invite input
and interact
It’s not usually worth setting up separate
accounts if you can use the Union’s main
one(s)
Pay to boost posts & run targeted ads
@jowalters

34. @jowalters
Cheap/free tools
Free online training on Google Analytics, Facebook etc
Google Alerts - email updates when new information
is added to Google’s index
Canva - free online design software
Unsplash - free stock photos
Google Maps - create interactive maps
Hemingway app - get feedback on your writing
@jowalters

35. @jowalters
Another great resource?
Your comms/marketing colleagues!
They’re super smart and super nice.
Pick their brains and use their expertise
Involve them early in projects (don’t be
the person who comes in to say “I’m
doing this thing tomorrow and I need
a poster”)
@jowalters

36. @jowalters
Another great resource?
Your comms/marketing colleagues!
They’re super smart and super nice.
Pick their brains and use their expertise
Involve them early in projects (don’t be
the person who comes in to say “I’m
doing this thing tomorrow and I need
a poster”)
Also me. I offer training, consultancy & delivery
@jowalters

37. @jowalters
Questions?
@jowalters
25dots.co.uk
jo@25dots.co.uk
Consultancy
Training
Delivery
@jowalters