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growth

Growth, Reflection, and Change in 2022

How quickly a year goes by! It feels like we were just in the thick of it with new transitions and M&A deals. Suddenly, it’s all in the rearview mirror. 

At the end of the year, many of us who take time to reflect have the tendency to skip to the resolutions for next year. As humans, we have a bias toward the negative. We zoom in on what didn’t work as well as we hoped, and with the best of intentions, we immediately focus on resolutions for next year. This bias means we don’t always take time to feel pride and satisfaction about what we accomplished.

So, I’m going to give it to you straight: 2022 has been a phenomenal year for Audacia. 

Our seventh year of business was transformative for us. Our business grew in more ways than one, we got clear about who we are, and we thought hard about what our priorities mean to us. While this sounds simple laid out in a list, an enormous amount of work went into all of this. Let me share some of our 2022 highlights with you.

Business Growth

We’ve had an incredible and growth-filled year for our business. We grew our team to 14 strong and growing (check out these interviews with Sarah Deming and Sarah Gershman). Together, we worked to create the same culture of trust and transparency we work to instill in our clients. Because I trust my team, I’m able to focus my energy on big-picture strategy. 

On the numbers side, we doubled our top-line after multiple years of phenomenal growth. In addition to growing our team and top-line, we’ve been lucky to benefit from a growing community of supporters, partners, and subcontractors. We entered into many new rewarding subcontractor relationships and have received the benefit of expertise in everything from value propositions to executive presence. 

We also had the opportunity to work with wonderful clients like Xator. In just a few months, we helped them craft a succinct, evocative, and authentic statement of what Xator does—no jargon needed. We got to watch the internal and external transformation that happens when employees can speak authentically and accurately about what they do. 

And make no mistake, we worked hard to get to this point. We interviewed employees, read reviews, analyzed their competitive market positioning, and critically examined the marketing materials of both Xator and their competitors. If you want to hear more about this process, stay tuned for a case study in January!

Audacia’s Value Proposition

In addition to working with clients like Xator on their value proposition, we invested time, resources, and energy into working on our own value proposition. Our firm has evolved and changed since our launch in 2015. While people have an idea of what a communications firm does, Audacia isn’t a communications firm, or a PR firm, or a marketing agency. Let’s face it, we don’t fit the standard mold. In the midst of our evolution and growth, we needed to revisit how we talk about what we do. We chose to see this challenge as an opportunity to walk the walk.

In other words, we went through the same process we used for Xator and other clients: the ultimate act of putting our money where our mouth is. The process was rich: we learned so much about ourselves, about our clients, and we gained insight into how we’ve changed. And what did we learn?

Audacia Strategies is an advisory firm helping business leaders build the businesses of the future and uncover opportunities they never thought possible. We do this through a relentless focus on communications. 

It might sound simple, but it took us months of work to get here. We’ll tell you more about how this process looked on the inside early next year.

Learning to Prioritize

I know my clients get overwhelmed by their day-to-day and that can keep them from achieving their strategy. Over the last year, it often felt like we were more often ruled by the urgent than the important, and we spent a lot of time thinking about this. Here’s what we learned.

First, our urgent is usually our clients’ important and urgent. What we do means we’re on call for a corporation when there’s a new CEO or when there’s a significant transaction. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing to prioritize the urgent, and it’s part of doing business when you work with companies in transition.

Second, although it often felt like our days were ruled by the urgent, an imperfect devotion to the important still allowed us to prioritize our value proposition. It’s hard for companies to prioritize such reflective and research-intensive work, hence the need for external comms teams. But despite the days that felt ruled by the urgent, we managed to step back and do this important and clarifying work.

As we look to 2023, we’re thinking about how to attend to the urgent without letting it pull us off track. What are the changes we need to make in terms of our operations, staffing, and management to ensure we can balance the urgent and the important? How can we set realistic expectations for both ourselves and our customers? As much as we want it all done tomorrow, it doesn’t work like that. At Audacia, we want to continue to focus on dreaming big about the outcomes we want and work backward from there. The smartest way to invest your time is to start from where you are rather than where you wish you were.

Closing the Year With Gratitude

In reflecting on all the growth Audacia experienced this year, I want to offer gratitude for our clients, our team members, our business partners, and all of those who have referred business to us and supported us along the way. It feels like just yesterday that we started, yet here we are entering our eighth year of business. We are incredibly grateful for all of our supporters, and we are so lucky to do what we do. 

On behalf of the Audacia Strategies team, we wish you a joyful holiday season and a healthy, happy new year. Let’s make 2023 Audacious!

Photo credit: Jacob Lund Photography from NounProject.com

Lessons learned

Reflecting on the Evolution of Audacia: 3 Big Changes and Lessons Learned

In business, there is often a tendency to set goals, chase them down, and then set more goals. Rinse. Repeat. Taking a step back from this relentless pursuit of achievement to take stock of lessons learned, though, is critical. 

We see this tendency all the time with our clients working through big transformations. If they become overly focused on getting through what they think of as the “hard part” – the merger, the transition, the restructuring – without picking their heads up, they can miss what’s even more important. Without understanding how that big transformation fits into the overall strategy, there’s a risk that you’re simply going through the motions, making change for change’s sake. There’s almost nothing worse than a checklist untethered from a strategy.

At Audacia, we periodically reflect on where we’ve been, so that we can move forward with our eyes wide open. In that spirit, let’s look at the biggest changes and lessons learned from the past (almost) seven years.  

1. The Team is Growing

One of the most visible changes that we’ve made over the years is our growing team. In the beginning, it was hard to think about bringing others on. Sure, I was happy to quietly partner with people I had worked with throughout my corporate career, but the thought of developing my own team… shudder, at least in those early days.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, entrepreneurship doesn’t run in my blood, and the idea of being responsible for other peoples’ livelihoods was scary at first. But, of course, the stories my mind invented were much more terrifying than the reality.

In fact, building out our team of experts, partners, and employees has been one of the greatest joys of running the business. Today we’re 14 strong and growing. Together, we have created a culture of trust and transparency. Because I can trust my team, I have more space to think strategically, and I can focus on the big picture without getting lost in the details.

Not only that, but we’re also able to leverage our collective experience and talent to deliver bigger and better solutions for our clients. And diversity of thought, experience, and perspective, enables us to deliver those solutions to a broader range of clients. 

This is not to say we’ve got it all figured out; we are a work in progress. But I’m really proud of the progress we’ve made and excited to see where our path takes us next.

Lessons Learned:

  • We are better together.
  • Don’t let fear hold you back from making a bold move. (I’m still a work in progress here!)
  • Building a reliable support system is one key to being successful as a business owner.

2. We’re Getting Clearer About Who We Are

This change may be less visible from the outside, but it is crucial to finding ideal clients, honing our service offerings, and boosting our credibility – not to mention, strengthening our messaging. Getting clearer on our superpowers and how our values express themselves through the work we do has allowed us to back away from saying “yes” too often.

Over the years, we have zeroed in on what we do and how to position ourselves in the market. Living through pivotal moments in our business has helped us figure out how to help our clients through pivotal moments in theirs as well. We can confidently talk about how we work with organizations experiencing structural transitions including: 

These types of transformations have internal and external ripple effects to be aware of from the beginning, but those effects can be invisible to teams on the inside. Our team comes in, gets the lay of the land, and develops a coherent communications strategy to carry you through the transition and beyond.

We provide much more than a coherent communications strategy, though. Developing such a strategy requires you and your team to think through crucial details about the transition and the fundamental changes on the horizon. In strategy sessions with Audacia, clients have breakthroughs that improve operational efficiency, usher in a new era of cultural transparency, and spark innovative ideas that lead to even bigger transformations.

Lessons Learned:

  • If you want prospects to understand what you do, you need to be clear about what you do.
  • Having a coherent communications strategy is about so much more than communicating well.
  • Teams that know their value deliver above and beyond their value.

3. We Answer Client Concerns Before They Have Them

Perhaps the most important change Audacia has made over the years has been the way we approach our clients’ needs. In the beginning, we were mostly reactive. When a prospect reached out to schedule a consultation, I listened to their concerns and devised a solution connecting all of the dots. There’s nothing wrong with this approach. It’s one that yields success for many, including Audacia in the early stages.

However, we’ve evolved beyond this reactive approach. Today we are more proactive, anticipating our clients’ needs even before they have them. When I sit down with a prospect, I listen. I want to hear not only the text, but also the subtext. Our advisory is unique to each client and their situation. We are constantly formulating and reformulating strategies to present solutions for clients in all different stages of transformation.

As a result, we’re adding more strategic value to our clients and we’re more engaged across their transformation journey. Our average client engagement has grown from three months to six months. 

We’ve also seen more repeat business in recent years as clients come to value our strategic perspective, ability to “get *ish done,” and tangibly/actually move them forward. Because we have been around the block, we are well positioned to lead our clients through the shifting sands of transformation, and having access to that kind of reassurance in the midst of chaos or crisis can be absolutely priceless.

Lessons Learned:

  • Helping clients see around corners is the cornerstone of a true partnership. Often solving one problem leads to another and organizations need help recognizing when this is the case.
  • Small shifts in the way you think about client work can have outsized benefits.

Looking back on the early days of Audacia, I can’t help but feel gratitude for what we’ve built. Here’s to setting more goals and chasing them down, but also taking time to reflect and learning from the past.

Photo credit: Business Associates Sitting In Board Room Having A Meeting With Coffee And Tablets by Flamingo Images from NounProject.com

Meet the Team: Sarah Gershman, Executive Presence Partner

Building a strong business is all about building strong relationships and at Audacia Strategies, we love to say, “it’s not ‘just business.’ It’s about people working together toward a common goal.” That’s why partnering with the best is a top priority. I’ve known many of our partners for years. They’re not just business associates, they’re people I’d sit down with for a casual dinner (and probably an adult beverage or two). I’m proud to know, partner, and collaborate with each of them. 

In a previous article, we introduced you to one of the Sarahs on Audacia’s team, our Manager of Business Operations, Sarah Deming. This time, we’re introducing Sarah Gershman who is our Executive Presence Partner.

Interview with Sarah Gershman, Executive Presence Partner

At Audacia, we are all about strategic communications and strong communication is all about getting the key players within an organization to stay on message. This starts with leaders and this is where Sarah Gershman shines.

Sarah is an executive speech coach and CEO of Green Room Speakers, a communications firm based in Washington, DC. She is also an adjunct professor of communications at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, where she lectures to students from around the world.

As Audacia’s Executive Presence Partner, Sarah puts her specialization to work helping leaders deliver high-stakes and complex messages with clarity, authenticity, and conviction. Having coached executives at organizations including Microsoft, General Dynamics, Booz Allen, Lockheed Martin, Eli Lilly, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the US Department of Commerce, the US Department of Justice, and the US Department of Labor, Sarah brings a wealth of experience to the table.

Below are highlights from Sarah about the valuable contributions she makes to our team.

Q | Can you describe your role at Audacia Strategies and how you fit into the team?

As an executive speech coach, I help leaders elevate their executive presence as they grow their businesses. In practice, one of my roles at Audacia is to get to the core of what a leader needs to communicate to their target audience. When one of Audacia’s executive clients needs to be prepped for an engagement like a critical speech, townhall, investor presentation, I come in to coach them on how best to communicate key messages. So I spend a lot of time helping leaders think through mission critical messaging.

I also coach leaders through communicating big changes within the company. This can be especially challenging because there is a need to tell a coherent story that bridges the gap between the firm’s past and its future. Often, finding that story takes stepping back to look at all the current messaging and making connections that might not be immediately obvious to leaders themselves. Together with others on Audacia’s team, I provide much needed perspective.

Q | What is your favorite part about working with Audacia?

There is something so exciting about working specifically with companies in transition. Audacia’s clients are taking bold risks, making big changes, and going through high stakes transformations. As the leader of an organization experiencing rapid change, communication skills are a top priority. If you can’t get the message across, you lose buy-in from stakeholders.

I love the excitement of helping organizations in these critical moments. It lends an added pressure – in a good way – to the coaching I do. 

And I love the people! Katy has put together an incredible team that attracts incredible clients. It’s a privilege to work with everyone.

Q | Can you describe a win or highlight from your time working with Audacia?

The example that comes to mind is working with a CEO in transition as he stepped into his new role. Although he had been a leader within the company with a strong reputation, he had never been a CEO, so he understandably needed guidance around executive presence.

When we first met, the CEO had a harder time commanding the room. Part of the challenge was that he was replacing a beloved CEO who was a rockstar, literally. We needed to find a way for the new CEO to tell his own story.  

In just a couple of sessions, we helped him find his message, own it, and connect much more deeply with his audience. It turns out that the new CEO loves chess, so we helped him tease out what that says about leadership and his personal leadership style. Once he connected those dots, he stepped more fully into his role, quickly earning the trust of his team and investors.

Q | Are there best practices associated with your role that you’d like to share?

One of the skills that makes me successful is listening. It may seem simple, but it actually requires a lot of practice. When I’m meeting with an executive, I listen deeply, and I ask a lot of questions.

Coaching an executive to have presence, charisma, and to communicate clearly requires not just hearing what is being said, but also the unspoken message underneath. I try to discover my client’s motivations on a deeper level. When I know what makes you tick, then I can figure out how to leverage that information to help you truly engage your audience. So I’ve trained myself to listen for those things.

My goal with every executive I coach is to get them to think through their story and their messaging themselves. It’s not good enough for me to tell you what your message should be. If you don’t feel it at your core, your words won’t feel authentic to your audience.

Sarah is one of a handful of experienced and talented strategic partners I’m proud to call part of Audacia’s team. Together, she and I have over 20 years of experience working with executives and investors. 

We recently put our heads together to write an article for Harvard Business Review about the three big questions investors ask themselves when evaluating a CEO. Reading it will give you insight into why our executive clients always walk away from sessions with Sarah feeling more confident and ready to own their messages. 

Is your firm going through a big transition? Are you a leader who needs support as you develop your communications strategy? Our team is here to help. Contact us to schedule an initial consultation.

People

Meet the Team: Sarah Deming, Manager of Business Operations

At Audacia Strategies, our biggest asset is our people. From the beginning, I’ve known that to build a firm that provides strategic communications for organizations going through big transformations, I needed to build my team intentionally. And I am really excited about how the team has come together.

Long time readers also know that we talk a lot about transparency and walking our talk. So in that spirit, we will be sharing some interviews with Audacia team members giving their take on our evolving culture. First up is our Manager of Business Operations, Sarah Deming.

Interview with Sarah Deming, Manager of Business Operations

Every successful firm needs people who can be the glue holding things together behind the scenes. For us, that’s Sarah Deming. 

Sarah has a background in art management, small business, and operations administration. At Audacia Strategies, she assists with scheduling, email management, human resources, and marketing strategy. She’s eager to take the lead on projects and makes smart decisions for our clients. 

As Audacia Strategies’ Manager of Business Operations, Sarah has a knack for creating and implementing processes that help businesses grow as efficiently as possible. She has an eye for detail and understands the importance of organization and effective communication. In her free time, you can find Sarah reading a good book, making art, or enjoying the great outdoors with her husband and two daughters.

To learn more about what makes working for Audacia a great fit for Sarah, continue reading.

Q | Can you describe your role at Audacia Strategies and how you fit into the team?

I’m a bit of a jack-of-all-trades behind the scenes. My role is part Operations, part Executive Administrator, part Marketing, and part Human Resources. It was really eye-opening recently to sit down with our CEO, Katy (Herr) Hew, and take a closer look at the tasks I perform on a daily basis. The most typical thing about my day is that it’s never typical – each day is a little different and that’s one of the things I love!

Although I work most closely with Katy and our COO, Natalie Homme, I also communicate with our partners, clients, and the rest of our team to schedule meetings. Additionally, I monitor social media, post content, update our website, organize documents, onboard new team members, and so much more.

Q | What is your favorite part about working with Audacia?

The people! We have the absolute best team. Everyone is supportive, open to new ideas, positive, kind, eager to solve problems, and always willing to help each other out. Working with Audacia has shown me that it is possible to find a workplace with a culture that genuinely encourages team members to find the work-life balance that works best for them.

While other places I’ve worked have paid lip service to creating a supportive environment, Katy makes it happen. She cares deeply about Audacia – our mission, clients, and the people who work for her. Trusting her team to enjoy their lives AND deliver results, Katy demonstrates strong leadership every day. She really makes me feel seen. I’m so grateful to be a part of Audacia Strategies and to have a professional woman leader like Katy as a role model.

Q | Can you describe a win or highlight from your time working with Audacia?

When I first began working with Audacia, we switched email marketing providers and I facilitated our migration to the new platform. During that process, I evaluated the current email drip sequence we had set up for new subscribers and saw some areas where it could be improved.

I pitched Katy a new nurture sequence with evergreen content about Audacia and what we can do for businesses going through transformative change, and she loved the idea! Four months later we launched our new and improved nurture sequence, and it’s still yielding amazing results.

By implementing projects like this, it shows me that there are opportunities to grow into a bigger role within the company. Because I’ve seen firsthand how eager Katy is to invest in her people and in our ideas, I’m motivated to actively look for ways to develop on a personal and professional level. It really feels like the sky’s the limit in terms of learning and growing at Audacia.

Q | What do you think makes you especially well suited for your role as Manager of Business Operations?

Being organized and efficient are essential to what I do. If I’m scheduling a meeting, my goal is always to get it on the calendar within 48 hours. Sometimes that’s just not possible, but having this in mind drives me to be responsive and on my toes. It’s like a game I play with myself! 

Also, I take a lot of pride in responding to emails quickly, being friendly and warm, and generally being available to everyone on our team for any and all matters that may arise in the course of doing business. I’ve learned that with a little creativity, most problems have ready solutions. 

Of course, I make sure to set healthy boundaries as well. Because our team is entirely remote, we have to stay committed to make sure working from home doesn’t mean working all the time.

It’s also important for me to use our project management tool to keep track of my tasks so nothing gets overlooked. I write down even the smallest tasks and even create tasks to remind me to follow up on other tasks.

Behind every successful firm, you will find someone like Sarah Deming holding things together and making sure everyone has what they need from an operational standpoint. But Sarah is truly one of a kind. Audacia Strategies wouldn’t be where we are today without Sarah. 

To find out more about how our team has your back, contact us today. Sarah will get back to you to schedule your consultation.

transformative change

“Are We There Yet?” — Change, Communications, and Culture

If there’s anything that’s more difficult than transformative change, it’s communicating about transformative change. And let’s face it, the past two years have been defined by change.

As leaders of organizations living through a profound period of global change, we’ve learned some powerful lessons:

  • The future will not be more stable or more certain.
  • Black swans feel much different when we live through them (sometimes multiple times), than when we read about them in economics textbooks.
  • Disruption or large scale change cannot be contained to one aspect of life.

In short, societal shifts spill over into personal and business life, business upheaval impacts personal and societal security, and uncertainty about personal health throws a wrench into every aspect of life. No matter how hard we try to avoid it, transformative change comes for all of us.

With the hindsight of the last few years, now is the time to review our approach to change and ask ourselves how we can better prepare for and communicate about the next wave of transformative change. Let’s take a closer look at the core aspects of strong communication here.

The Pulse of the Organization

Exhausted organizations do not handle change, let alone transformation, well. Think about how well you operate after a series of all-nighters. Even the thought of having to eat — to survive! — feels like a monumental task. Similarly, exhausted organizations can barely perform key functions, which doesn’t bode well for facing changes with grace.

When leaders continually keep their fingers on the pulse of their organizations, however, they are less likely to lead exhausted organizations and much better positioned to handle transformation. Keeping your finger on the pulse means recognizing when your people are being pushed to their breaking point and making the necessary adjustments needed.

How do you take the pulse of your organization?

  • Get to know your employees and customers: Use pulse surveys (Voice of the Employee (VoE), Voice of the Customer (VoC) surveys), “ask me anything” sessions (AMAs), virtual and IRL coffee chats, town halls, skip level meetings, “walking the halls” (for those back in the office).
  • Get to know your leaders: Keep tabs on your people leaders and customer leaders too. Managers can often be the linchpins of culture and influencers of others.
  • Ban the “just deal with it” mentality: Of course, decisions need to be made and transformative change must go on, but if your strategy is to tell your people to “just deal with it,” then you have a failed strategy on your hands. Instead, build a plan with the tools, support, resources, and aircover they need…and be ready to adjust. 

Transformative Change and Culture

Taking the pulse of your organization is only the beginning of figuring out how to communicate about transformative change. To really pull this off, you also need to consider the culture on a deeper level.

Having a change playbook is important, to a point (and lord knows you can find a consultant who will sell you one), but remember that a guide is just that — a guide. There may be times when what your team really needs is for you to set that playbook on fire (maybe even literally).

Here are some areas to consider when it comes to culture: 

  • Consider what is authentic to your organization. What is the general tone of communication? And if there was ever a time to be more transparent, more honest, more plain spoken…transformative change is that time.
  • Consider who is trusted in your organization. Perhaps the Board of Directors is more trusted than management (I’ve worked there). Or perhaps long-tenured middle management is trusted more than the new or newer executives? Understanding these relationships and building that into your strategy is crucial.
  • Consider why you’re doing what you’re doing and have a good answer. Just because “all the other $1B organizations” use top-down communications for layoffs, doesn’t mean that you have to. Keep in mind, “because I said so” is not a successful strategy for successful change.
  • Consider what you are asking of your team and customers. Transformative change, or any change (hello, Atomic Habits), requires commitment. It’s about the larger purpose and that’s generally an emotional ask. You are asking your team and your customers not just to help you make a business change, but to take a journey with you toward achieving your organizational purpose — which will solve more customer problems, make the world a better place, make the organization a better place to work, or any combination thereof.

A Few More Do’s and Don’ts

Once you have thought through the lay of the land and have the big picture in front of you, here are a few more do’s and don’ts to keep in mind.

1. Don’t sand down the edges on the executive team. 

Whether it’s a layoff, a major acquisition, or an IPO, your people are your biggest asset — yes, even in the metaverse. And employees, customers, and the media are all looking for leaders to lead and exhibit humanity.

In a recent interview, Brian Chesky, the CEO of AirBnB, said it well, 

“I think CEOs and leaders are more human than they come across. I mean most of these people are real people. They do have feelings. I think the problem with corporations is the lawyers and the HR people and the others, ‘sand the edges’ off the person in an effort to protect the person. And, that is a major disservice because they just reduce them to something that’s not even a human being anymore, they’re just this very cold person.” 

Of course, you need to work with your executives to communicate in a way that complies with the law and represents the organization appropriately, but this is very different from turning them into robots who are afraid to show any glimmer of vulnerability.

2. Do acknowledge the suckiness, if it sucks.

You may be surprised at how much resistance to transformative change can be relieved with a simple acknowledgment of how difficult it is. When it feels like you’re the only one feeling the pain, change can be a really lonely place. Often your people just need you to see them doing their best through an objectively sucky situation. And if it sucks for you too, talk about it.

3. Do acknowledge the excitement of the future, as appropriate.

As hard as it can be, change also usually comes with a lot of excitement. Don’t be afraid to embrace the excitement and display appreciation for the teams that will make the change happen.

4. Don’t promise a return to the status quo.

Never offer to “stop the change.” It may be tempting to try to relieve the pain of transformative change by promising a return to the status quo on a particular date, for example. This falls into the category of promises you can’t keep, though. Sure, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel, a product launch, a closing date on the merger, but even those flashpoint events aren’t likely to spell the end of change. 

We’re all changing, all the time. Our environment is changing, the market is changing, society is changing. All we can do is remain in a ready stance — flexible, fluid, optimistic, and ready to roll with the next pivot or “tweak.”

Finally, I want to leave you with some more words of wisdom from Brian Chesky because these two sentences are really all you need to know when it comes to communicating about transformative change: “Just do whatever you think is the right thing at that moment. Take care of people and then they’ll root for you.”

And you know Audacia Strategies is here for you. We’re ready to help you better prepare for and communicate about the next wave of transformative change. Let’s talk!

Photo credit: Businessman Applauding With His Colleagues During A Presentation by Flamingo Images from NounProject.com

planning for the future

What’s On the Agenda for 2022?

If you’re like me, you’ve probably seen, heard, and read one too many articles about trends for 2022. I even published a 2022 trend article myself. And as much as I enjoy thinking about and planning for the future with Audacia’s incredible clients, I’m also a realist.

Has anyone effectively predicted anything during the past two years? Fortunately, we don’t need to predict the future to build a solid strategy. What if we, instead, accepted the uncertainty and focused on building flexibility and the capacity for resilience inside our organizations?

With this in mind, let’s discuss what’s in, what’s out, and preview the flexible plan we’re implementing at Audacia Strategies this year.

What’s In

As we continue to watch workplaces shift and organizations rethink how productivity happens, some corporate culture trends have real staying power.

1. Building corporate trust.

The pandemic continues to erode public trust in large institutions. Early last year, when we were mostly feeling optimistic about a swift return to normalcy, we talked about ways corporations could begin rebuilding trust. Back then, public trust of businesses stood at 61%, higher than any other institution, according to Edelman’s Trust Barometer.

Now, after enduring another year of working from home and dealing with the uncertainty of the delta and omicron variants, many of us have given up on the concept of “a return to normalcy” entirely. And the 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals that business holds onto its position as the most trusted institution, with even greater expectations due to government’s failure to lead during the pandemic.

Here are some of the key findings:

  • By an average of a five-to-one margin, respondents in the 28 countries surveyed want business to play a larger role on climate change, economic inequality, workforce re-skilling and addressing racial injustice. 
  • All stakeholders want business to fill the void, with nearly 60% of consumers buying brands based on their values and beliefs, almost 6 in 10 employees choosing a workplace based on shared values and expecting their CEO to take a stand on societal issues, and 64% of investors looking to back businesses aligned with their values. 

“Business must now be the stabilizing force delivering tangible action and results on society’s most critical issues,” said Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman. “Societal leadership is now a core function of business.”

2. Establishing credibility as a trusted information source.

The 2022 Trust Barometer also revealed that trust in news and information sources has eroded over the past decade. Trust in all news sources has dropped (with the exception of owned media, which rose one point to 43%). Social media experienced the sharpest decline at eight points to 37%, followed by traditional media dropping five points to 57%.

In addition, concern over fake news being used as a weapon has risen to an all-time high of 76%. And the most credible source of information is communications from ‘My Employer’ (65%). 

Clearly, trust is at a premium now, which means there’s also a huge opportunity for organizations to establish credibility as a source of reliable information. Doing so will likely require skillful repetition of the truth and transparency in your internal and external communications.

It’s more difficult than ever for consumers to sift through all the available content and find useful information. Making increasing trust a part of your firms’ strategic plan in 2022 could be a serious differentiator.

3. Staying nimble.

Also, with all the challenges to public trust and uncertainty in the air, perhaps the best strategy for thriving in 2022 is to stay nimble. Where can you keep your strategic options open?

If you’re working on an M&A deal this year, for example, positioning your organization for the sale is key:

  • As your business model and corporate strategy shift with the times, you may need to re-evaluate how M&A fits.
  • Keep in mind that there are more options for M&A available now, such as SPACs and other non-traditional financial configurations.
  • Make sure your due diligence covers more than just the financials. The unfolding of the criminal trial and conviction of Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of the debunked medical startup, Theranos, has driven home this point. Many Theranos investors have been criticized for not doing the proper due diligence.

What’s Out

With the above in mind, let’s turn to what’s striking a discordant note with consumers, investors, and trend-setters.

1. Overpaying for an acquisition.

We’ve seen some of the highest M&A deal volumes ever in the past year, and multiples are at record highs. Still, the M&A market remains competitive. While many deals are worth the multiple, there’s no good reason to overpay for an acquisition. 

In fact, we see firms making this mistake for a variety of reasons:

  • Deal fever: It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of a bidding war. Instead, be willing to walk away from a deal that doesn’t really work.
  • Cutting corners on due diligence: Due diligence is like going to the dentist. If you don’t do the preventative work, you may end up needing a root canal.
  • Not getting real about your competition: The deal will have ripple effects. Do your best to anticipate how it will affect your competitors and the market in general.
  • Getting entranced by “synergies” [or insert your favorite buzzword]: Don’t fall for talk that sounds good but isn’t backed up by substance. Always have a gut check strategy.

What we recommend: A comprehensive integration strategy that goes beyond IT systems and benefits (both vital!) and addresses culture, leadership style, behavior expectations, and just plain “what’s in it for me?” And by the way, this comprehensive integration strategy should include perspectives from employees, customers, and investors.

Consider one of my favorite quotes from Dan Doran: “Value is analyzed, price is negotiated.” Write it down on a sticky note and keep it top of mind for deal negotiations.

2. Mixed messages to employees and customers.

Remember how we’re inundated with information and unsure whether we can trust any of it? Well, one thing that contributes to this paucity of trust is mixed messages. So replace complex, inconsistent, and vague messages with simple, consistent, and transparent communications.

And also, it can’t hurt to approach all messaging with a healthy dose of realism and empathy. For many, January 2022 feels an awful lot like April 2020. Pandemic fatigue is at an epic level and right now it’s hard to be an employee, a leader, a customer, an investor, a parent, a kid, a teacher, a doctor, a nurse…a human.

3. Everything being a top priority.

With everything we have to deal with on a daily basis, we don’t need the added burden of everything feeling urgent. So it’s best to think extra carefully about your real top priorities as an organization. 

Employee burnout is real. Customer burnout is real. No one has the patience to discern what’s a true priority. If you treat every task or project as if it’s Defcon Level 5, you’re likely to invoke a fight, flight, or freeze response.

Instead, pick your top goals, staff out each project appropriately, and give realistic deadlines, all with team input. Then maintain productivity by communicating your priorities and why to all levels and all stakeholders.

What We’re Doing at Audacia Strategies

Of course, by now, you know we at Audacia are always thinking about how we can walk our talk and 2022 is no exception. 

Here’s what we’re doing to build flexibility and the capacity for resilience:

  • Lots of deep breaths.
  • One of our guiding principles: Start with empathy.
  • Recommitting to our values and actively building our culture around them.
  • Focusing on prioritizing our business investments: We’re doubling down on what has worked by augmenting our offerings and building our capacity to support executive transitions, exits (IPOs, M&A), and refreshed marketing positioning.
  • Focusing on building our kick*ss team: We are proud to work with professionals who are the best of the best in their field, highly respected, customer-focused, awesome people with a fabulous sense of humor, and are no bullsh*t team players. We’ve already announced that IR pro, Mike Pici, joined the leadership team, and you can check out our team page to find out more about our strategic partnerships.
  • More deep breaths…

If the question of building a solid strategy amidst chaos and uncertainty has your organization reaching for the Magic Eight Ball, contact us instead to schedule a consultation

We haven’t been able to predict the future (yet!), but we do help clients develop strategies for dealing with anticipated and unanticipated transformations, and we can do the same for your organization.

Photo credit: Business Colleagues Having A Meeting Discussing Graphs And Figures by Flamingo Images from NounProject.com

M&A deals

Over 70% of M&A Deals Fail to Meet Their Goals — Beat the Odds With These 5 tips

The last time we talked about M&A deals here on the blog, we were all wondering how the pandemic would affect the economy and watching some of the biggest players abandon deals in the pipeline or take the Covid chaos as an opportunity to get into the game. 

While the pace of recovery has varied among companies and sectors in 2021, U.S. deal volume and value are up from 2020 numbers and forecasted to continue to rise. Meanwhile global mergers and acquisitions for the first half of the year totaled a record $2.4 trillion, up 158% for the same period last year.

But even as the numbers continue to rise and many organizations sharpen their knives, M&A deals have also gotten more complicated. Let’s look at the why and how these changes should influence your approach to due diligence.

3 Major Changes Afoot

In recent years, M&A has become something akin to 3-dimensional chess (if players could constantly enter and exit and the rules were also a moving target). Three major changes contribute to the increasing complexity.

1. COVID-19 has hastened disruptive trends.

First, COVID-19 has hastened pre-existing disruptive trends across industries, drawing a clear bright line between business models that will succeed in the future and those that are outmoded. Rather than looking merely to deals that will create scale and cost synergies within an industry, organizations are looking to increase scope and add new capabilities, especially in technology, proprietary data, or scarce talent.

2. The M&A process is faster and more complex.

Second, the M&A process has become faster and more complex. Whereas corporate acquirers have always had the upper hand with deeper pockets and M&A deal experts to lean on, private equity players are giving them a run for their money. Nearly every deal is now an auction. Access to debt capital has been a nonissue during this crisis, so competition for attractive, high-growth assets is higher than ever. 

Add to this mix access to data, broadening regulatory scrutiny of deals on the basis of national interest, and a flood of major technology companies. Consider, for example, the involvement of Amnesty International in the Google, Fitbit deal. The organization sent a letter to E.U. regulators, arguing that they should block the deal unless Google addresses human rights issues like the right to privacy and nondiscrimination. Evaluating the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) impact is becoming an integral part of the diligence process. For many looking to make a deal, this is new territory.

3. COVID-19 has forced organizations to adapt their M&A deals.

Finally, COVID-19 has forced organizations to adapt quickly in a myriad of ways and M&A is no exception. In a 2020 Bain & Company survey of M&A practitioners, 70% of respondents reported that diligence was more challenging during the pandemic and 50% found it harder to close deals. Companies that adapted quickly, developing capabilities in virtual diligence and virtual integration, have made great strides.

The use of data in the M&A process is another differentiating factor. Smart M&A teams are leveraging data (and sometimes artificial intelligence) to screen for targets and create profiles, so they are ready even before targets come to market. During diligence, companies are using digital platforms to perform risk analysis and generate customer insights among other data collection to give themselves an edge.

As companies rewrite their M&A strategies for a post-pandemic world, some of the principles of what a good deal looks like still hold true. The most astute M&A teams understand the importance of proper planning and forethought in the months, weeks, and days before an acquisition. And they understand that due diligence goes well beyond the financials.

Beyond Financial Due Diligence

Given the above changes and the likelihood that M&A will continue to play an increasing role in revenue growth for years to come, it pays for leaders to get clear about their own approach to due diligence. In particular, it’s critical for organizations not to overlook the non-financial aspects of due diligence.

Now, don’t get me wrong. We aren’t trying to downplay the importance of financial due diligence. You need to run the numbers and they absolutely need to make sense. Still, all too often it’s non-financial factors that we see tripping up M&A deals. 

By non-financial due diligence, we have in mind:

  • Is this merger the right cultural fit for your organization? And, do you have a strategy for cultural integration once the deal closes?
  • Do you have a solid, agile, proactive M&A team in place and ready to jump into action when the right deal opportunity comes along?
  • Is this deal really the right deal showing up at the right time or are you suffering from deal fever?
  • Have you considered the intangibles? Here I mean variables like corporate reputation, brand promise, employee sentiment, and customer engagement? 

What can you do to position your organization for future M&A success?

We see five things leaders can do to equip their organizations for future M&A success:

Re-evaluate how M&A fits into your broader business strategy. As your business model shifts and you revise your corporate strategy, you will also need to update your M&A team’s goals. How has the pandemic affected your industry and sector? Does this change where to buy vs. build to remain competitive?

Consider non-traditional M&A. One of the ways in which M&A is changing is that companies are getting creative. Many are using a combination of joint ventures (JV’s), partnerships (with or without equity, with or without financial sponsorship), and corporate venture capital to tailor deals and integration. Also, organizations are partnering with other companies to explore opportunities for mergers and acquisitions. This lowers the risk and increases the likelihood of selecting the right deal.

Bring expertise into the process early. Given the growth in speed, scope, and capability deals, specialized expertise early on can help organizations better gauge fit. When you work with an external team like Audacia Strategies during the diligence process or even before, you get a set of eyes and ears in the room as an extra “gut check.” We know the transaction cycles, value creation opportunities — and how to avoid the trapdoors.  

Know the lay of the land and be ready to spring into action. The fierce competition for deals means that firms can no longer wait for bankers to come to them or rely on a singular source of deal intelligence. Companies need to continually scan the industry landscape, see how it’s evolving, and be ready to focus when an opportunity arises. Establish an ecosystem of external partners (bankers, tax and legal advisors, private equity experts, due diligence partners, etc.) who have access to data, connections, and can strike quickly.

Go beyond financial due diligence. When it comes to increasing capacity through an M&A deal, it’s not sufficient to simply understand the value of a target. You also need to assess factors like cultural fit, sustainability, and employee and consumer sentiment at the diligence stage. Consider also regulations and new challenges that may arise as your organization evolves.

The future of M&A is here. If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, now is as good a time as ever to jump into the fray. The above will give you some orientation, but if you really want to ensure your deal goes smoothly, you need the right partners on your bench. At Audacia, we’re here to walk you through the non-financial side of due diligence. Contact us to talk about your M&A strategy

Photo credit and description: Group of people working around a laptop at an office by Flamingo Images from NounProject.com

listening and learning

Audacious Transparency: Reaffirming the Core of Our Business

At the end of 2020, Audacia Strategies passed a big milestone for a small business. We celebrated five years in business. As the CEO, I’m simultaneously thrilled and anxious to see what the future holds.

As we grow, I’m doing all I can to make sure Audacia remains true to our guiding purpose: helping companies achieve their boldest initiatives and transformational vision. Here are a few of our steadfast guardrails:

  • Vision, conviction, and clarity have been the core of our business since day one.
  • We hold the line when it comes to our business values and we walk our talk.
  • We start with clarity about who we are — we support organizations taking the biggest steps and we enable our clients’ bold visions.

After all, if you’re going to start a business and turn down a regular salary and steady hours, there had better be a bigger purpose — a bigger prize — on the horizon. This remains my philosophy of business ownership.

All that being said, we faced our first real test of our mission and values in 2021. So in the spirit of audacious transparency, I wanted to share what we learned.

Growth! Scaling! Excitement!

In a previous blog article, we discussed keeping tabs on our underlying messages. While it’s easy to get caught up in the big, surface level messages we want to share with our audiences, if those messages aren’t grounded in our core values, it’s easy to get off course.

Not only does this happen with corporate messaging, it also happens with the way we run our businesses. And I think one of the biggest reasons businesses fail is because they lose sight of their core values or make too many compromises in the name of scaling.

Now here we are, five years in and Audacia Strategies has served a variety of clients in industries from specialty chemicals to cyber security to government IT. We are growing quickly, but the “Founder fear” is always there. Could it all disappear? (Hint: It won’t. But fear isn’t rational.)

And this brings us to the story of our biggest test yet. We were approached by a politically-motivated, third-party to support a coal-based chemical firm in need of crisis communications support and management. 

My gut reaction: This is not in our lane. It’s not where we want to be and it’s not who we want to work with. Just as quickly, though, the fear sneaks in: “What if it all goes away? What about growth, scaling, excitement? We should at least take the call. So we took the call and started putting together a team. Then, a team member with many years of experience in this industry came back to us and said, “I just can’t do this.” She was right. We stepped back and referred the work to a large firm with deep resources, deep pockets, and a very broad client set. 

Today, I’m confident that decision was for the best. I’m relieved not to have pursued the business or expended the energy. When making the decision, though, I was flooded with so many emotions (fear, panic, relief, shame, disappointment). Brene Brown would have a field day here! I’m still working through the experience.

Positive Outcomes

Even while I continue dealing with the emotional fallout from this near miss, as a team, we’re seeing many positive outcomes. 

Since stepping away from that opportunity, we have moved planned new offering(s) forward significantly (coming soon!). We’ve been able to expand our support to current clients and their transformations are taking flight.

Also, we’ve had some really fun, fulfilling, and meaningful new opportunities walk through the door (although nothing simply walks through the door in entrepreneurial life — it’s all based on the work you put in and forgot about or wrote off days, weeks, and years earlier)

In addition, saying “no” to the opportunity that wasn’t right for us, means we can direct our energy toward what feels right. And this experience reminds me that focusing on our missions and values yields work that doesn’t feel “purely transactional,” but that feels purposeful. It almost seems like the universe is rewarding us for making a good decision. 

And it’s a good reminder that taking work solely to chase the goal of scaling and growth comes with an opportunity cost. Clearly, we saved ourselves from going down the wrong path. It scares me, though, to think about how close we came. I don’t think we are alone in this challenge. In fact, I see it with our clients all the time and that’s why I want to share our experience.

Still Learning and Listening

It’s too soon to claim that we’ve learned any transformational lessons from this experience. We’re still integrating, but I want to share my initial thoughts while they are fresh.

1. I’m grateful to work with folks who are willing to say, “I can’t do this” and lend a hand to help reframe and refocus priorities.

2. We’re learning Tony Robbins’ lesson first-hand: “where energy goes, focus flows.” It has been amazing to see what has appeared once we refocused on our vision.

3. We’ve recommitted to the work. We have our eyes on our page. This is our journey and it just doesn’t matter what others are doing as long as we are true to our vision/values and our clients are achieving their vision(s).

4. This is why I started Audacia Strategies. I’m reminded of the beauty of building a business with shared team values at the core. If we “have” to take on work that is outside our values, then why do this hard work at all? It’s like working for someone else and building their dream.

Audacia Strategies has emerged from this experience stronger and more committed to our mission, vision, and values than ever before. We appreciate the nudge to recommit to walking our talk and this conviction is something we are proud to bring to our clients. After all, every business faces similar challenges. And every business needs to recommit to their priorities on a daily basis.

As always, we’re grateful for the chance to learn, listen, and yes…make a mistake. We’re even more grateful for the near miss and the lessons learned.

Ready to let your your vision, conviction, and clarity guide your next business transformation? Contact us to schedule time to chat!

Photo credit: Jacob Lund from the Noun Project

bold steps

5 Lessons from 5 Years (and What’s Next)

This month, I’m celebrating five years taking bold steps as the CEO of Audacia Strategies! Anniversary messages tend to be like toddlers…all about “me me me me me!” But the truth is—it’s all about YOU, Audacia Strategies’ clients, partners, and community.

As I take time out to reflect and celebrate at the end of a year like none other, I am overcome with gratitude. Your willingness to listen as we strive to balance your current business needs with the future needs of a transforming organization means we can cover more ground more quickly. Your positive responses to our content gives us the confidence to be leaders in our community. And your support on so many fronts makes it a joy to get up and do what we do every day.

So, as I share five lessons from five years in business, I want you to know we’re always thinking about how the lessons we learn can be applied to your organization as well.

1. Choose Your Name and Brand Identity Carefully

What’s in a name? Well, I won’t say the name of your organization is everything, but a great name can be a good conversation starter. And since we’re all in the messaging business in one way or another, it is a good idea to give names and titles careful thought. 

Why the name Audacia?

Here’s the definition:

From audāx ‎(“bold, daring”), from audeō ‎(“I dare”)

  1. daring, audacity
  2. boldness
  3. provocativeness

I chose the name Audacia Strategies because I never want to forget that spark that started me down the path to building my consulting business. With this name, I knew I’d never forget my big “why.” I knew it would be crystal clear to my team, clients, and partners that we are all about taking bold steps and transformative action. We don’t back down. We aren’t afraid to take risks.

More recently, I’ve purposefully shifted a lot of my language (both internal and external) to talking about my team. As I like to say, “this is not the Katy show.” All of this is part of discovering my brand’s true identity. Have you reflected on your organization’s identity lately?

2. Insist Upon Your Values

I also want to keep our company values on the forefront of everyone’s minds. There’s no mistaking what we stand for and because we know actions speak volumes, we make sure to walk our talk.

When I look at the strides we’ve made as a team, I know what works only works because we have clients who share our values. Trust, transparency, and audacity are the key ingredients to our success. But if any of these were missing on either side of the equation, we know we wouldn’t be where we are today.

When organizations have strong values that their customers recognize, it humanizes those organizations. Make sure that you infuse all of your messaging, both internal and external, with your company values. Could your customers list your organization’s values? 

3. Stay On Top of What’s In/What’s Out

Top organizations stay on top of what’s in and what’s out in their industries. Messaging and corporate communications has evolved a lot over the past five years. Just consider how much attitudes about Facebook and other social media platforms have changed during that time. Remember the carefree days before Cambridge-Analytica?

Here’s what stands out in our industry:

 

In Out
Straight talk Flowery prose
Teamwork “It’s faster if I do it myself”
“Revenue Driver” “Cost of doing business”
Progress Perfection
Getting uncomfortable Playing it safe

 

4. Taking Bold Steps Pays

For the past five years, Audacia Strategies has been in growth mode. I knew from the beginning that to meet my ambitious goals, I needed to set my fear aside and take steps I didn’t feel ready to take. I knew I couldn’t sit back and wait for the planets to align. I had to go out and find great partners so that I was ready to serve big clients. I had to believe that if I made smart investments, the revenues would come in and I’d be able to cover those big moves. In short, I had to trust myself, so my clients would trust my team.

Betting big has paid off big for us. It hasn’t always been a perfectly smooth ride, but that’s the point. Smooth rides mean that you’re covering well-trodden territory and change-makers can’t afford to play it safe. What big, bold steps do you need to take to raise your organization to the next level?

5. Look to the Future

So, what’s next? More of what we do best—rolling up our sleeves and diving into your biggest investments and boldest ideas. We’re bringing more firepower to the game with expanded voice of the stakeholder (customer, employee, community) capability, non-financial due diligence offerings, and more straight-talk-results-focused communication strategy.

What else should we be working on? What do you need most? Where would you like Audacia Strategies to focus its efforts in the coming months and years? We would love to hear your ideas for what’s next and what we should be working on! 

Give us your best ideas in this short (90 seconds) survey and we’ll share the responses in 2021. Fill out the survey here. #accountability

Here’s to all of us for making it through 2020! And here’s to another five years and beyond of bold steps for Audacia Strategies, our clients, partners, and community!

Photo credit: by Jacob Lund from the Noun Project

Corporate Communications

Cut the Crap: Putting the Humanity Back into Corporate Communications

Maybe it’s all the election coverage or the fact that I haven’t been in the same room with anyone outside of my immediate family in almost nine months, but my tolerance for corporate-speak is hitting the floor. And I don’t think it’s just me.

If there ever was a time to get human, it’s now. What does this mean? In the simplest terms, it means cutting to the chase with our corporate communications and messaging. Your audience is clamoring to feel seen and heard. So why not give them what they want?

Take a look at my best tips for putting the humanity back into your corporate communications.

1. Think Like a Reporter

Whether you’re working on a value proposition (i.e., what makes you unique in your market?) or a restructuring message to share with investors, strip away all the complexity and find simple language. 

One way to do this is to think like a reporter. Journalists are trained to give the who, what, where, when, and how of a story in the first sentence or two when reporting on a story. Replicate this tactic by getting your marketing and communications teams together (or go outside of these departments for a different perspective) to brainstorm: 

  • the what, 
  • the why, and 
  • the what’s next.

Whatever you think of James Carville’s politics, he is a master communicator and strategist. During Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign, Carville knew exactly how to drill down and develop core messages that were simple, memorable, and meaningful. Carville used his most famous quip, “it’s the economy stupid,” along with “change vs. more of the same” and “don’t forget health care” to anchor messaging throughout the campaign. The election results speak for themselves.

2. Dump the Buzzwords

As one health reporter brilliantly puts the point in this Atlantic article, “if there’s anything corporate America has a knack for, it’s inventing new, positive words that polish up old, negative ones.” These buzzwords do more than whitewash or paper over the stuff we don’t want to talk about, though. They also obscure your message and make your organization seem less authentic.

In this time when everyone is distracted by a global pandemic, an unusual Presidential transition, and how both could affect their future, it’s more important than ever to dump the “disrupting,” the “pivoting,” and the “growth hacking.” 

Your employees and customers don’t have time for this. They want you to give them information they can act on. If you confuse them with jargon or industry terminology, they will ignore you. So cut the crap.

3. Get Vulnerable

What can you do instead of resorting to the safety of buzzwords? Get vulnerable. Be careful here, though, getting the tone right takes a lot of nuanced thinking. And I’m NOT suggesting that you manufacture adversity. But if you’ve faced a genuine struggle that has made you rethink how you do business, it may be the time to share the new ‘why’ behind your ‘what’.  

You can make sure to stay within critical communication guardrails by letting your organization’s authentic voice be your guide:

  1. Pay attention to the voice of your leadership team and use it to steer messaging.
  2. Make sure your corporate communications reflect your company culture.
  3. Take a step back and consider the big picture whenever communicating with the media, your audience, and other stakeholders. 

4. Step Away from the Webinars

In relation to considering the language and the tone of your corporate communications, you’ll also want to think about the method of delivery. I’m not a speaking coach (though I am happy to hand out referrals to great teams), but I find the formality of webinars often results in participants feeling totally disconnected.

For this reason, we have been recommending that clients step away from webinars in favor of less formal interviews, discussions, roundtables, open mic Q&A, etc. While it may make sense to give a short written statement or update to kick off an investor meeting, listening to written remarks being read for any longer than 10-minute intervals is probably too much to ask from those on the other side of the camera.

Regardless of the format, to ensure that you are connecting with your audience, spend some time practicing your delivery. In fact, if you can spare the time, put more time into practicing your delivery than you do writing up your remarks. 

Why? This world of virtual meetings we all inhabit makes it harder to feel a genuine connection. If you’re the kind of speaker who draws on the energy of your audience, then this is even more true for you. Ask these questions as you prepare for your next town hall meeting:

  • Would my grandparent understand what I’m saying?
  • Have I removed all the jargon?
  • Have I included smart visuals that are easy for my audience to understand almost immediately?
  • Do I have a story or narrative to share?

Above all, be mindful of the ways in which your customers, your employees, and your investors are more distracted than they’ve ever been. When your communications cut to the chase and avoid the corporate-speak, your audience will feel seen and heard.

With these tips under your belt, you’ll be ready to send a clear message with your corporate communications. Is it time for your organization to get human? Contact us and let’s talk! 

Photo credit: Transgender woman leading meeting by Noun Project from Noun Project