1.
Michelle Laurie
Knowledge management specialist
South Asia Urban Knowledge Hub
12-14 March 2015, Kathmandu
Communications
“Taster”

2.
What is research communications?
Research communication is defined as the ability to
interpret or translate complex research findings into
language, format and context that non experts can
understand.
DFID

3.
Distillation of findings

4.
Plain Language

5.
Accessibility
(use visuals)

6.
Tailored for Different Audiences

7.
We will cover:
• Audience
• Key messages
• Your elevator pitch
• Data visualization
• Media
• Policy brief

8.
Lessons to address WASH in urbanization

9.
It’s a process

10.
Key Messages… the process
1. Start by choosing something to work on.
1. Pick a priority audience you must communicate
with and define:
– Knowledge
– Attitudes
– Practice
– Where they get information
– Information they need
10 minutes, fill in page 1 of your worksheet – go!

11.
Key Messages… the process
3. Developing communication objectives
Knowledge: what new things do you want them to
learn about your subject?
Attitudes: what changes in opinion do you want to
stimulate?
Practice: what new things would like them to do?
What should they stop doing?

12.
Ex: chocolate as
meeting snack
• New Knowledge:
– Latest price of chocolate, health benefits,
emotional benefits
• New Attitudes:
– You should want to eat (and provide) chocolate
during meeting breaks rather than other snacks.
• New Practice:
– Meeting organizers should buy chocolate for all
our meetings

13.
Developing
communications objectives
3. What do you want to achieve in
communicating with this audience?
• Page 2 of your handout – your ideas
• 5 minutes – go!

14.
Developing Comms Objectives Cont’d
• Objectives should relate to audience needs and
interests
• Objective should be SMART (see worksheet)

15.
Goal: Better Meetings
Project Obj:
To allocate budget for
chocolate at all K-Hub
Mtgs
Audience Needs:
Benefits re: happiness,
performance, productivity,
relative price
Communication
Obj.
Show mtg organizers
that providing
chocolate as a snack
leads to more
productive meetings
and outcomes.

16.
Ex. SMART Comms
Objectives
• Knowledge
– To ensure at least 50% of K-Hub members understand that
chocolate is economical, nutritional and provides energy,
by Dec 2015.
• Attitude
– To persuade at least 2 K-Hub meeting organizers that
chocolate is the snack of choice for effective and
productive meetings by Dec 2015.
• Practice
– To increase the number of K-Hub meetings with chocolate
by 50% by Aug 2017.

17.
Communication objectives
• Develop communication objectives for the
areas of change
• Page 3
• Column (communication objs)
• 5 mins

18.
Convert obj to a key message
Recall project objective:
– To allocate budget for chocolate at all K-Hub meetings.
Recall communication objective:
– To show mtg organizers that providing chocolate as a snack leads
to more productive meetings and outcomes.
Messages:
• Chocolate is brain food
• Eat chocolate during meetings to sustain people’s energy
• Happy meeting participants equals great results
• People want to attend your meetings when you serve chocolate!
• One chocolate tastes better than 10 carrots – choose chocolate and
save money.

19.
Considerations:
• Language and style (for your audience)
• Tell them something new
• Give information they can use
• Move your audience to take action
• Use stories
• Snappy slogan
• Visuals, engaging presentations
• Clear and understandable

20.
Key messages
4. Develop key messages
• 2 min inspiration– Power of Words
• Page 3 of handout, column Key Messages
• 5 mins – go!

21.
An Elevator Pitch
• It’s a world of sound bytes, convey your
message in a very short amount of time

22.
Some quick examples
• A billion for a billion (1 minute)
• The Girl Effect (Nike), 2 minutes)

23.
5. Create your pitch
1. Who are you?
2. What do you do?
3. Why are you unique?
4. Goal?
• 3rd floor = 30 seconds
• Page 4 in your handout
• 15 mins – go!

24.
Let’s Practice!
• Find a partner
– deliver your headline pitch
– give and receive feedback (5 mins)
• Volunteer to give your pitch to plenary (PRIZES)
– Feedback (10 mins)
– The winner is…?
• Discussion on messaging (5 mins)
• Another example by WaterAid

25.
Communication tasters (1 hr each)
• Data
visualization
• Media
• Policy brief