Effective communication is key to building relationships, driving engagement, and achieving goals.
This was the third workshop delivered in the final part of the City of Nature Alliance Pilot Project funded through the Commonwealth Games Legacy funding. The first was the Finance Workshop – https://naturallybirmingham.org/city-of-nature-alliance-finance-workshop-resources/ and the second was the Volunteering / Involved Workshop – https://naturallybirmingham.org/city-of-nature-alliance-involved-city-workshop/
The Communication workshop was hosted by the Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust at their Ecopark site.
15 people attended the workshop which lasted for four hours.
During the workshop we explored:
• The City of Nature Plan Overview.
• What are the actions in the City of Nature Plan
• Why is community communication important
• Earth Stories – Hearing People’s voices
• Communicating information about activities
• Making connections with a 1,000,000+ target audience
There is more information on the slide deck which can be downloaded here:
General Guide to Communication
Briefly communication needs to follow the 7 C’s and be:
Courteous
Clear
Concise
Concrete
Correct
Coherent
Complete
1. Know Your Audience
- Identify Your Audience: Understand who you are speaking to and tailor your message to their needs, interests, and level of understanding.
- Segment for Impact: Use different tones and methods for different audience groups (e.g., customers, employees, stakeholders).
2. Be Clear and Concise
- Avoid Jargon: Use simple, straightforward language to ensure your message is easily understood.
- Stick to the Point: Keep messages concise and focus on the key information or action you want your audience to take.
3. Use the Right Channels
- Choose the Best Medium: Select the communication channel that best suits the message and audience (email, social media, meetings, etc.).
- Adapt to Platform Norms: Adjust the tone and style of communication depending on the medium (formal for reports, casual for social media).
4. Be Consistent
- Maintain a Unified Message: Ensure all communication reflects the same core message, vision, and values to avoid confusion.
- Regular Updates: Keep your audience informed consistently, especially when sharing updates or managing expectations.
5. Engage and Listen
- Two-Way Communication: Encourage feedback and listen actively to understand your audience’s concerns and ideas.
- Respond Thoughtfully: Address questions or feedback promptly and respectfully.
6. Tailor for Impact
- Emphasize Key Points: Highlight essential information, whether through repetition, visuals, or bold fonts.
- Use Stories or Data: Use anecdotes or statistics to make your message more relatable and persuasive.
7. Check for Understanding
- Clarify Confusion: Ask follow-up questions or provide summaries to ensure your message is understood.
- Evaluate Effectiveness: Review audience reactions and adapt your approach if needed.
8. Maintain a Professional Tone
- Respectful and Positive: Always use a polite and positive tone, even when discussing difficult topics.
- Adjust Tone to Context: Be formal when required, but also approachable and empathetic as necessary.
Effective communication requires planning, clarity, and active engagement. By focusing on your audience, delivering clear messages, and listening to feedback, you can foster stronger relationships and drive better outcomes.
The Importance of Communicating with Communities – According to the “digital community”.
Below are the collective thoughts of millions of people connected as a digital community. Their writings have been brought together through the power of artificial intelligence. AI doesn’t know anything but it is really fast, it can quickly find, retrieve and organise information into a form that can be communicated. I asked it to: write an article on The Importance of Communicating with Communities. This is what it wrote.
In today’s interconnected world, the success of businesses, governments, non-profits, and other organizations relies heavily on their ability to engage with the communities they serve. Whether these communities are local neighbourhoods, customer bases, or social media networks, effective communication plays a pivotal role in fostering trust, collaboration, and growth.
Here’s why communication with communities is not just important, but essential.
1. Building Trust and Transparency
One of the foundational elements of any relationship is trust, and this is especially true in the relationship between organizations and their communities. When there is open and honest communication, trust develops. By keeping communities informed about key decisions, challenges, and opportunities, organizations demonstrate transparency, which, in turn, builds credibility. Without clear communication, rumors and misunderstandings can spread, leading to distrust.
For example, a local government that regularly updates its residents on changes to infrastructure, public safety, or budgeting earns the confidence of the people it serves. Similarly, businesses that communicate openly about their practices, product changes, or policies create a more loyal customer base. When communities feel they are being heard and respected, they are more likely to support the organization or entity.
2. Facilitating Collaboration and Engagement
Effective communication is a two-way street. It’s not only about delivering messages but also about listening and engaging. Communities often have valuable insights, ideas, and feedback that can help shape better decisions and solutions. When organizations actively listen and engage with community members, they gain a deeper understanding of their needs and concerns.
This participatory approach can lead to stronger collaboration, where community members feel they have a stake in the outcomes. Whether it’s a city council seeking input on a new public park or a brand asking its customers for feedback on a product, communication encourages collaboration. Engaged communities are more likely to support initiatives and contribute to the organization’s long-term success.
3. Fostering Inclusion and Diversity
Every community is diverse, made up of people from different backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives. By effectively communicating with all segments of the community, organizations can ensure that diverse voices are heard. This inclusivity fosters a sense of belonging and promotes equity.
When organizations fail to communicate with all parts of their community, they risk alienating certain groups, which can lead to marginalization and division. On the other hand, active communication that respects and reflects the diversity of a community builds bridges and helps create a more unified, cohesive environment.
4. Enhancing Crisis Management
In times of crisis—whether it’s a natural disaster, a pandemic, or a company scandal—clear and timely communication becomes even more crucial. How organizations communicate during a crisis can make or break their reputation. Communities look to leaders for guidance, reassurance, and solutions, and the ability to provide accurate and empathetic communication can help prevent panic, confusion, or harm.
For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the public relied heavily on information from health authorities, governments, and local leaders. Those who communicated consistently and clearly helped mitigate fear and provided the direction needed to navigate the situation. When communication fails during a crisis, communities can feel abandoned or misinformed, which can exacerbate the problem.
5. Strengthening Social Responsibility
More than ever, communities are holding organizations accountable for their impact on society. Businesses, in particular, are expected to contribute positively to the communities in which they operate. Effective communication allows organizations to highlight their social responsibility efforts, whether they involve environmental sustainability, charitable work, or ethical practices.
When businesses or institutions share their efforts and engage communities in their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, they build goodwill and reinforce their commitment to being a positive force. This not only strengthens the organization’s reputation but also encourages community members to participate in meaningful causes.
6. Driving Innovation and Growth
Communities are often the best source of inspiration for innovation. By fostering open lines of communication, organizations can tap into the creativity and insights of the people they serve. Whether through town hall meetings, customer surveys, social media discussions, or focus groups, organizations can gain valuable input that leads to new ideas and opportunities.
Moreover, when community members feel that their voices matter, they are more likely to contribute innovative solutions and help organizations adapt to changing circumstances. For businesses, this can lead to improved products and services; for governments, this can mean more effective public policies.
7. Maintaining Relevance and Adaptability
Communities are dynamic—they change with time, influenced by economic, cultural, technological, and social shifts. Regular communication helps organizations stay attuned to these changes. By engaging with communities, organizations can remain relevant and responsive, adjusting their strategies to meet evolving needs.
For example, brands that constantly communicate with their customer base through social media or market research can pivot quickly when preferences change. Non-profits that maintain open dialogues with their beneficiaries are better positioned to adapt their services to meet new challenges. When organizations fail to keep up with their communities, they risk becoming outdated and disconnected.
Communicating with communities is not just about passing along information—it’s about building relationships.
Whether the goal is to foster trust, drive engagement, manage crises, or promote growth, effective communication is a powerful tool that strengthens the connection between organizations and the people they serve.
By listening, engaging, and being transparent, organizations can create resilient, thriving communities that, in turn, support their long-term success.
Types of Communication
- Verbal Communication: Using spoken words to convey messages, including face-to-face conversations, phone calls, and video conferences.
- Non-verbal Communication: Conveying messages through body language, facial expressions, gestures, posture, and eye contact.
- Written Communication: Sharing information through written words, such as emails, reports, text messages, letters, and social media posts.
- Visual Communication: Using images, diagrams, graphs, and videos to convey messages or ideas, often paired with verbal or written communication.
- Formal Communication: Structured, professional communication used in official settings, such as reports, presentations, memos, and business meetings.
- Informal Communication: Casual, unstructured communication, including conversations among friends, coworkers, or social media chats.
- Internal Communication: Communication within an organization, such as employee meetings, emails, newsletters, and internal memos.
- External Communication: Interaction with individuals or organizations outside of your own, including public relations, marketing, client emails, and social media outreach.
- Interpersonal Communication: One-on-one communication between individuals, often involving verbal, non-verbal, and emotional cues.
- Mass Communication: Delivering messages to large audiences through mediums such as television, radio, newspapers, and online platforms.
Each type serves a distinct purpose and can be combined to enhance overall communication effectiveness.
Where, When and How
Communication can happen when people are connecting:
At the same time in the same place: The most obvious example of this is a face to face communication, even a walk and talk although moving you are staying together communicating live in the same place. This way of communicating can build relationships quickly and is very adaptive. If we know or can take along others who know other languages, including sign languages we can communicate with people through translators. However it takes more resource to do this and the amazing diversity of a city with a million plus people who use over 108 different languages means we will need to consider how we can ensure we are as inclusive as possible through all forms of communication.
Social, cultural and disability inclusion needs to also be considered. People can not always be in the same place at the same time that we are. Travel, work patterns, religious practices, physical and mental disabilities can all mean people can’t get together at the same time and we need to consider all these. Even considering that for children they will normally have to be brought to a place by an adult who may not be able to that.
In the workshop we used the example of a bench chat for same time same place: https://naturallybirmingham.org/2024/08/16/friendship-bench-chat/
In pairs we talked to each other for 10 mins about anything we wanted, with an aim of checking in with each other at a comfortable point to ask are you OK. The invitation to do this was also provided using this form of communication.
At the same time in a different place: The most obvious example I would give is a telephone call but that is pretty old school. Teams and Zoom meetings, Facetiming or live chatting using any digital tools is probably more up to date . You are communicating live with each other at the same time, but you are in different places, possibly the other side of the planet or even off planet on the space station.
At a different time in the same place: This may sound a bit like it breaks the laws of physics, but a printed poster will remain in the same place (on a noticeboard for example), but can be read by people at different times. The poster becomes your half of the “conversation”, there are problems with this form of communication. You are trying to represent your half of the conversation in a two dimensional static form and once created it is “locked” in that form and can’t be changed. This means that a lot more thought needs to go into the creation of a poster in advance. We explored this in the workshop looking at different types of posters. The benefits of posters includes that they are relatively cheap to produce (once they have been designed) and there is no technology required to access them. We started by looking at a workplace poster to reinforce or remind people of a message already sent out to colleagues about trying a Bench Chat with a friend. We then looked at a poster designed to go into Ranger Visitor Centres and Parks buildings as you can see below. There were 10 different versions of this poster.
Where the poster is going to be displayed, who the audience is, what the purposes is all needs to be considered. Because these posters were in buildings we could have used a QR code for people to access more information, out in a park having to take out your phone in a specific place may provide an opportunity for the phone to be stolen, we have to consider lots of different aspects including safety. As mentioned in the workshop there are also digital posters around the city and these are often used for commercial advertising. Is advertising communication?
At a different time in a different place: This could also be described as “any time, any place” the most obvious example today being websites and social media, which are more about mass communication but also digital recordings, emails and messaging and physical posted letters and flyers which can all be targeted and personalised although obviously there is a higher cost in doing that. Does it make a difference if you receive something addressed to you about something you are interested in?
There was some brilliant conversation and feed back about all of these ways of communicating. Perhaps the most important thing is to remember beyond the 7 C’s of good communication is that with all these methods we are trying to replicate the face to face communications method that the majority of people find the easiest to take part in. What did we do in the bench chat I am guessing that we, introduced ourselves and smiled, we spoke and adapted what we were saying taking cues from the person we were speaking to, we chose the information we wanted to transmit appropriate to our converser the purpose we were given and the time we had to communicate. Perhaps this is what we need to do when we are using other forms of communication as much as we possibly can, keep listening and adapting and sharing and collaborating and trying not to get stuck in one way communication even if we are not communicating in the same place at the same time.
Storytelling
The evolution of storytelling reflects how people learn and communicate. Through oral storytelling or written storytelling, the “voice” of the narrator will always have a way, place and a purpose. Although the mediums have changed, the core concept of using a sequence of events in an exciting narrative has remained the same.
In the mountains of Southern France are caves with drawings dating back 30,000 years. On the walls of the cave, explorers found paintings depicting the prehistoric period. Stories told in an unspoken and unwritten language about encountering mammoths, lions and rhinos.
The Ancient Greeks discovered ways to use their agricultural tools to carve messages onto stone and slate, but for thousands of years their stories were communicated only through oral storytelling. Slowly as the Greeks developed writing they applied it to storytelling and wrote poems. Most of their communication was in times of sorrow, war, and celebration.
“The Epic of Gilgamesh” was a story that started as an epic poem by the Sumerian King in the Third Millennium BC. Epic poems are referred to as such because they could fill a 500-page book by today’s standards, but because the Greeks were so passionate about the art of oral storytelling, these stories were written as poems to help the storytellers remember and perform the whole story.
Over many centuries, the art of the written word and storytelling would evolve and develop into cohesive works like the Bible. The Bible was written back in 1,300 BC, with stories, myths, and legends about kings, gods, and prophets. It gathered together tales and lessons with religious purpose that people had previously learned through oral story telling before they were written down and later printed.
William Shakespeare – writer, actor, and poet born in 1564. Although his life was short by today’s standards he wrote 37 plays during his lifetime including Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet.
Not too long after the era of Shakespeare, stories known as fairy tales started to arrive in England from France and the rest of Europe. The tales were mostly written with children in mind. They were created to teach children basic life lessons. The story of Hansel and Gretel for example was meant to scare children off from wandering off in the woods.
You can download the Storytelling slide deck here:
You can download the Earth Story and Green Champions Slide deck here:
Naturally Birmingham Future Parks Project 