The Most Effective Change Comms Formula? KISS. Then TELL.

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The more things change…

One of the big things that’s making news here in the U.S. is the latest masking guidance from the CDC.

If you feel we’re closer to 2020 than we are to 2022, despite it being only three days away from August, you’re not alone.

What’s that saying, “The more things change…”

Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash

Eighteen months-plus into the pandemic, I’m not going to get into how I cannot wrap my head around the fact that there is even a “debate” around the efficacy of vaccines.

Whatever one’s political leanings, however, what is very clear is that official messaging and guidance around COVID-19 has been messy, clumsy, and confusing pretty much since the pandemic began.

And of the many, MANY lessons COVID-19 is teaching us, this seems to be a big one:

that anytime you have to communicate about, during, and through a state of change, you MUST keep it as clear and simple as possible.

Otherwise:

it gets bastardized into sound bites, which can be misleading/effectively used for misinformation
it gets politicized, which makes it harder to convince people of the actual facts
you are more likely to be mistrusted, because if you couldn’t clearly communicate what you needed to the first time around, why should people believe you the second (or third, or fourth … etc.) time?

**KISS, then TELL to communicate effectively**

You know that old acronym, KISS?

That’s an imperative when we’re dealing with change communications or, heck, any kind of communication.

Keep. It. Simple. Sweet pea. (I changed the last “S” b/c I don’t want to be mean.)

What is simply communicated is likely to be easier to understand and absorb, which makes it more likely to be acted upon.

That doesn’t mean your strategy can’t be intricate. It absolutely can.

But the more intricate and/or layered your strategy, the greater the need to keep your core message + communication thereof simple.

This is also, incidentally, a hallmark of Social PR, where we take the “I” out of “communications.”

K.I.S.S. … first.

Then TELL.

***

Webinar alert (today)

If you’re free from 2-3 pm ET today, I’m moderating a webinar on change communications for PRSA-NCC, featuring my colleague & good friend, Angelo Ioffreda.

Angelo’s career history includes leading comms at organizations as varied (and large) as AOL, Sodexo and NII Holdings.

So, if anyone’s qualified to talk about change comms, it’s him (screenshot of his bio from the PRSA-NCC website below, hopefully it’s not too teeny for you to read).